Thousands of documents stolen from the University of East Anglia in the UK appear to show that climate change data has been manipulated, on both sides of the Atlantic,  in order to strengthen the case that global warming is the result of human activity.  According to recent articles in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, data actually shows that global temperatures are declining:

“In one email Professor Phil Jones, director of the University’s respected Climatic Research Unit, referred to a “trick” he applied to raw data to “hide the decline” in global temperatures.”

Another article quotes extracts of email exchanges, clearly never intended to be seen by the public:

From: Kevin Trenberth (US National Center for Atmospheric Research). To: Michael Mann. Oct 12, 2009
“The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t… Our observing system is inadequate”

Prof Trenberth appears to accept a key argument of global warming sceptics – that there is no evidence temperatures have increased over the past 10 years.

And …

From: Phil Jones. To: Many. March 11, 2003
“I will be emailing the journal to tell them I’m having nothing more to do with it until they rid themselves of this troublesome editor.”

Prof Jones appears to be lobbying for the dismissal of the editor of Climate Research, a scientific journal that published papers downplaying climate change.

And maybe the most telling…

From Phil Jones. To: Michael Mann (Pennsylvania State University). Date: May 29, 2008
“Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise.”

Climate change sceptics tried to use Freedom of Information laws to obtain raw climate data submitted to an IPCC report known as AR4. The scientists did not want their email exchanges about the data to be made public.

……………………..

There are now calls for a public inquiry over data manipulation claims.

One must have some survival skills other than knowing how to travel in the city,rather in the remote places.Take this as an examplehttp://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/Motorworld/Story/A1Story20090611-147746.html.Read this and tell me about how you feel after seeing this link.

~Thank You~

Shaw Clifton

The general of the US Salvation Army, Shaw Clifton is on a five day trip to Haiti to look into the problem of human trafficking in the Caribbean.  Especially around Haiti to the Dominican Republic but also Belize and Jamaica.  He said that there was forced prostitution going on.

I’ve written on this blog before about the problem of prostitution and the Haitian women in Jamaican go go clubs.    

Yardflex reported last year how an influx of Haitian women in the clubs was causing tension between them and the locals, but I think they’re missing the point about the choices available to these women and the decision to become prostitutes. 

Last year, there was a planned protest by Haitian prostitutes in the Dominican Republic, many of whom were later deported.   Their voice seems to hardly ever be heard.

The extent of the problem of human trafficking, like everywhere else, is not known.  There was some research into it, but it did not throw much light on the problem, but this woman – Sheila Nicholson who was a programme director of an organisation called People’s Action for Community Transformation (PACT), which worked with young Jamaicans at high risk of becoming victims of human trafficking, probably would be a good place to start to find out more.

If you’ve ever been into one of these go go clubs, sometimes they have hotels attached - I stayed one night at one of these hotels (I needed a cheap hotel!) , but Kingston and Jamaica have loads of them, it would not be hard to start uncovering some of the stories behind the darkened glass and flashing lights.

The way of man is froward and strange: but as for the pure, his work is right. It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house

Proverbs 21:8-9

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

What it means to be “human” / Reflections on the film, 2012

The film 2012 offers some insightful dialogue and illustration on what it means to be a human being.  Moreover, my wife and I saw the film a few days ago and found it most entertaining, though the action sequences were often farfetched to the point of hysterics.  But again, there are some very insightful themes running through the film which I find that as a Christian, are especially relevant for my Christian brothers and sisters.

Note that while the film does not necessarily convey a Christian perspective towards history, I believe as I have inferred at the onset, that the film convey insights on how we ought to carry ourselves in moments of crises, let alone in the normal events of life for that matter. I thus hope that many Christians, as well as non-Christians, will watch this film in order to reflect on two themes I saw emerging through its plot, both of which I find highly relevant to the age we live in.

An apocalyptic parable on true humanity

Before I introduce these two themes, I should offer a few comments concerning the film’s apocalyptic genre and story line.  We can most benefit from the film by interpreting it as simply a parable— though a parable unfolding through a rather unimaginable and horrifying event concerning a cataclysmic reconfiguration of the earth’s crust, which results in the near extinction of human life.

To call the story a parable is to stress how the film depicts an imaginary event yet uses that event to convey, even if quite unintentionally, some very relevant lessons for real life.  When we do that, (and again, I am speaking here to my fellow Christians), then there is really no need to focus so much on dismissing the film’s value because of its apocalyptic premise derived from the Mayan Calendar, which presumably concludes that the world may end in the year 2012.

As a further qualification, it is also important to note that in the film, the world does not actually end.  The world does undergo a horrific cataclysm created by earth’s crust becoming for a moment in history, unstable.  This in turn results in a shifting of the continents and of the north and south poles, and further results in several cataclysmic and global-reaching tsunamis that reach all the way up to Mount Everest.  These tsunamis thus destroy most of the earth’s inhabitants, but in the end, a remnant of the human race survives.  Moreover, the floodwaters apparently recede, thus marking a new beginning in human history.  Hence, the story line roughly echoes the biblical story of Noah and the flood.

Now again, while this scenario may not wholly fall within the images of biblical apocalypticism, I do not find its portrayal of a cataclysmic upheaval capable of seriously threatening life on earth, as wholly impossible.  For I believe there is sufficient warrant to surmise that are a number of very possible scenarios also involving the most unmanageable, horrific and cataclysmic destruction which can very well erupt upon the earth and at any moment in human history.  We should also keep in mind that for most of history, the human race consisted of less than 200 million people around the globe.  Then during the Middle Ages, the Bubonic Plague had in fact wiped out millions of people in Europe and I believe in Northern and Central Asia.

With this mind, the film actually thus becomes deeply relevant to our postmodern age. This is because today we in fact do live in the face of very real and looming apocalyptic threats to our entire earthy existence.  This reality thus largely defines the setting that we commonly call the postmodern setting.  Postmodernity means to some extent that we have come to realise that there are definitive limitations to what extent modern science and human knowledge can insure our continued survival as a species upon the earth.  Modernity preached self-reliance and human ingenuity; it preached the message of self-interest at all costs.  However, if now live in an age marked by a deep sense of pessimism towards the future, our pessimism largely stems from realising that in ourselves, we can no longer be certain of anything concerning our future.

We should however also note that there is a more positive element to the postmodern situation.  This element is that we have come to recognise that the way forward may come, not from the things we have traditionally trusted in, but rather from the most unlikely places and people.  Hence, we should therefore be open to marginalised voices; voices that the majority or the most powerful, or most affluent, have too often marginalised for purposes beneficial to their own security.  So with reference to the film 2012, by the time the film ends, the future of humanity becomes located— in the continent of Africa.

As a Christian, I believe the Lord is coming to unite heaven and earth, which will bring about a full renewal of this world, resulting in its complete transformation into a new creation under His complete reign.  Yet I am aware that things can potentially become far worse for humanity before they get any better.  I have come to realise that if things do get far worse— and I believe they may well in fact eventually get far worse, even to the point of a global-reaching, cataclysmic and utterly complete ecological and financial breakdown, what we may find ourselves suffering under, are the consequences of our own human follies.

Yet in the event of such a possible scenario within human history, and within the possible history that all of us can very well enter into, I want to stress that we as Christians will be called upon to live a life that is counter to the ways of the world.  That will be a counter-culture way of life that is wholly expressed through an ethic fully manifesting the charity of Christ, hope is His soon coming, and certainty in the coming establishment of His kingdom upon the earth, which will culminate in the complete union of heaven and earth through the full coming of His kingdom; the kingdom of God.

The true nature of true humanity

Now I will introduce the two themes that I found so vividly illustrated in the film 2012, which together I believe reveal the true nature of true humanity.  This true nature of true humanity is therefore our true destiny and calling as human beings upon the face of the earth, both in this age and in the age to come.

The first theme we can discern in the film 2012 is this: The film provides us an epic yet also horrifyingly apocalyptic parable on, what it means to be a human being.  This theme first emerges early in the film when upon discovering the potentially impending doom facing humanity, two individuals reflect on how we might carry ourselves in a moment of life-threatening crisis.

More specifically, the film calls to imagine a moment of life-threatening crisis, where the crisis gives us a choice to act and can only act upon only one of two possible choices: the choice to save either our life— or the life of another human being.  Even more specifically, this is the moment of life-threatening crisis, when the crisis confronts a person with the choice to either save only one’s self or rather, to selflessly act without regard for ones own safety, if in doing so, one can possibly save a number of other human lives from certain doom.

In the moment of truth, how will we live?

As the movie 2012 moves towards its end, one of the two individuals, who at the beginning of the film engaged in the moral discussion that I just presented, comes face to face with a moment of truth.  It is a moment we all may at some point in the course of life encounter, where that moment asks us, “In this moment of truth, how will you live?”

What happens in the film is that a scenario develops which reminds me of that old humanistic “life boat” case study involving seven people lost at sea but with a lifeboat made for only five people.  The case study thus calls us to decide which five out of the seven people, should we allow into the lifeboat that is presumably capable of holding no more than five people.  The case study thus forces us to ask ourselves, which two people should we throw over board?  Since the boat has space for only five people, which two people should we together elect to leave behind? Who should live and who should die?

The “lifeboat” case study is one image that implicitly shapes the film’s story line, but so also does the biblical story of Noah’s arc and the flooding of the earth.  Therefore, as the movie reaches its climax, several mammoth “life-boats” are revealed, which had been built in preparation for the global flooding, each capable of saving perhaps hundreds of thousands of people from the floodwaters.  After the selected populations board the boats, there are however still thousands of others desperately seeking to board the ships.

But in midst of the ensuing tension, and hours before the tsunamis impact the ships, one of the chief architects of these mammoth lifeboats, fears that the ships cannot contain those remaining thousands waiting to board.  Therefore, in the moment of truth, this individual, fearful that the ships may not sustain everyone, seeks to close the gates from the masses still hoping to board the boats.

This individual reasons that only by closing the gates to the many still outside the boats, can the human race be preserved from compete destruction.  Note then that this individual has a grand vision, which he passionately believes in, and it is a vision for the preservation of the human race.  He then reasons that if preserving the human race involves making tough decisions as to who we should save and who we should not save, then let us made that decision, and let us limit the number of passengers into the lifeboats.

Yet then there is another man who also faces this moment of truth.  He is that man who earlier pondered, how shall we act in the true moment of truth?  How then shall we live?  How will we act in that moment where we might be called upon to selflessly act without regard for our own safety, if in doing so, we might possibly save the lives of countless other individuals besides our self?

That man speaks up and says, “What is the point of saving our self, if we think that in doing so we are preserving the human race, yet also in doing so, we are in fact acting less than human?”

That man then further argues, “What does it mean to be human?”  He continues by pleading what he believe is the nature of a true human society and culture.  He thus asks, “How can we even start a new society, a new culture, if our foundation consists of behaviours that are less than human?  How can we rebuild a truly human culture, if our founding actions involve no sense of costly yet selfless altruism, even to the extent of our laying down our lives for one another?”

That individual then concludes and challenges those already on the boat that we must take the risk of jeopardising all our lives, if in doing so— we might successfully save every other life from destruction.  Ultimately, we must do so for this reason: it is only in doing so, that we can live a life that is truly human.  If we cannot do so, we are in reality, living less than a human life.

True and false civility

Some years ago, the famous psychiatrist, Dr Scot Peck, wrote a book titled, A World Waiting to Be Born: The Search for Civility.  Peck begins his first chapter titled, “Something is Seriously Wrong,” by noting too many people, think of “civility” as simply being polite and observing proper etiquette.  Peck calls this assumption not only superficial but also horribly wrong.  For this reason Peck goes on to say that too often in our varied life settings, especially in the larger and formal organisation structures in which we work, we carry ourselves towards one another according to the secular techniques of manipulation and personal self interest.  As a result, Peck says, we fail to manifest “the glory of what it means to be human.”

Elsewhere in Peck’s book, he demonstrates how a common organisational culture that is trapped in this secular idea of polite civility, is illustrated when an organisation’s presumed identity is one of, “We’re the best in the business,” and its motto is thus “Quality at all costs.”

In contrast to this idea of civility as nothing more than politeness and following proper decorum, Peck therefore stresses that true “civility” refers to seeking the best interest of all people, regardless of the cost to one’s self.  Within this same discussion, Peck then draws attention to the biblical story of Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man, who was unwilling to part with his wealth.  Peck suggests that the story functions as a parable for all of us, and every time when we read the story or reflect on the story.

The point of the story about the rich young man who is unwilling to part with his wealth, is not that following Jesus means that Jesus wants you to necessarily let go of everything you possess and live in voluntary poverty in order that you may follow him.  Although, I would say for many of us, that may not be a bad idea!  But no.  The moral of the story is that Jesus oftentimes will come to us and ask us the question, “What are you really trusting in?  Where is your security, right now, in this moment?”

Jesus will ask us these questions because if our security is indeed in the things we possess, then how are we going to carry our self as a human being, when the moment of truth calls upon us to express our humanity?

Within this discussion, the mental psychiatrist Peck throws throw at us this observation: “Security can become an addiction, and there are many for whom enough is never enough.”  Peck goes on to say that his work in psychiatric care has convinced him that having wealth never fully satisfies the aching feeling of insecurity.  All their lives, the rich often find themselves caught up therefore, in an insatiable quest to heal this ache through the continued accumulation of wealth.

Peck notes that past statistics demonstrate that within the American setting, the wealthiest segments of the American population give away to charity a much smaller proportion of their income that do middle or working class people.  Hence, their proportional giving reveals “a telling commentary on the spiritual impoverishment of most who are financially rich.”  For similar reasons, another notable psychiatrist, Erich Fromm, realised from sheer experience in the profession of mental care, that, “The essential difference between the unhappy, neurotic type person and him of great joy is the difference between get and give.”

A truly human life therefore, is a life lived in utter selflessness towards other human beings.  A true human life is always lived in the presence of one another, and for the presence and existence of one another.  A true human life can only be lived in selfless action to one another.  This is the mark of true humanity.  Anything less, is less than human.  Anything less is to live not as a human being but to live like an animal.  This discussion thus clarifies what we should mean by the term secular humanism.

Real Christianity infers a true and biblical humanism. Christian humanism is a humanism that encourages and celebrates the true nature of true humanity.  It is founded upon a moral centre, because it is furthermore, founded upon a Person— who is the True Human.  Secular humanism however, is a humanism without the true moral centre, and thus no real moral centre.  It has no moral centre because it encourages and celebrates living only for one’s self without regard for others.  It encourages and celebrates living for one’s self especially when the well-being of your life is any way dependant upon the loss, deprivation or disregard for the best interest of another human being.

For the most part, the world we live in, in spite of its increasing nuance towards spirituality, operates by values reflecting not a true humanism but a secular humanism that really does enthrones “self” at the centre of all things.  That is why even Christian bookstores are filled with books with titles such as “How to Become a Better You,” or “How to Be all You are Meant to Be,” or, “How to Receive all You’re Supposed to Have!”  At the root of all these pseudo-Christian books is not the paradigm of true humanity but the subhuman paradigm of self-interest.  So deep is this false humanistic in the cultures that we live, that much of the current talk within Christian circles of becoming relevant to the day we live in, or of transforming the culture around us, is really quite ludicrous.

The forces that have constructed the macro economic systems of our world, the security systems and social systems we now live within through the processes of globalisation, have constructed these systems upon premises that seek the best interests of the few without concern for the many.  The proverbial lifeboat of the film 2012 is therefore indeed a proverbial analogy of our present world order.

Many of us are right now enjoying the privileges of life on a “boat,” to which untold millions are currently barred entry into, and thus face the prospect of becoming the first causalities of whatever repercussions may erupt upon the earth because of our follies.  Moreover, added to these follies is the folly resulting from keeping our eyes closed to the many.  We close our eyes to their existence, though one day we may painfully discover that all people are indeed interdependent.  When that day comes, we may then truly learn that “No man is an island,” for the same forces that have united much of the world together in economic affluence, has united that much of the world to frustrations of the greater numbers of people who lack access to our prosperity.

Self-denial, charity, sacrifice, and healing the world

This discussion illustrates how nothing less than a complete, radical and revolutionary subversion and undermining of the entire world order, can bring healing to the world.  If a Christian truly believes that he or she lives as salt and light in the world, then he or she must also see their role as a prophetic presence in the world.  This is a prophetic presence that consistently demonstrates values that are visibly counter to the values of the world, and at the same time positively point to a world that is waiting to be born.  The good news is that to fulfill this prophetic role in the world, one need only mature and thus behave as a human being— a true human being.

To fulfill this prophetic function of living a truly human life we must however confront a common though false presumption concerning the purpose of Christian life, and about the purpose of Jesus’ life, sufferings on the cross and resurrection from the dead.  This is the misunderstanding that the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ atonement, was to insure our eternal salvation and hence, that we get to go to heaven when we die.  Now to be sure, the securing of our eternal destiny is central to why Jesus came to live and die upon the earth.  It is central because it is we and not angels whom God has created as His image-bearers— It we whom He loves as His children, and it is we who are made to reflect His likeness.

But in itself, this assumption is only a half-truth, and in itself, it makes for a very “self-centred” gospel.  It is the message of a gospel that men have not centred in the glory of God but rather in the glory of man apart from God.  Rick Warren therefore had it right when he titled the first chapter of his book titled, The Purpose Driven Life; with the title, “It all Starts with God.”  In that chapter, he moreover and rightly began the first sentence by saying, “It is not about you.”  Warren’s proposition illustrates how the primary purpose of Jesus’ atonement was far bigger than the redemption of humankind.  For even greater than to secure the redemption of humanity, is the greater purpose for which Jesus died for.  That greater purpose was to secure the glory of God.

Within the greater purpose of securing the glory of God, is that Jesus dies to reconcile all things— all things both heaven and earth, to Himself.  Jesus suffered and rose again that He might restore all things back together under His rightful reign.  So the Scripture says, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”  To this end, the entire purpose of God is to restore our humanity, that we might live as true human beings.  Moreover, the healing of the world involves our becoming more human; thus our becoming more humane.  To this end, God is at work to restore our humanity.

If we want to therefore carry our self in the world as a true human being— if we want to carry our self in a manner that is truly civil, we will never do so by calling attention to what we possess.  We can only show our true humanity through denying our self; and hence, by how easy it is for us to give it all away.  It is for this reason that in his Institutes of Religion, John Calvin devotes Book III to the Christian Life, and in chapter four, he summarises all of Christian life by this one phrase:  “self denial.”

By using that one phrase, “self denial,” as the most succulent description of a truly Christian lifestyle, Calvin chose to stick within a long tradition and a principle within that tradition, which every other leader of the Protestant Reformation also affirmed.  That is a tradition that thus remained connected to the best of Roman Catholic spirituality as illustrated in earlier works such as The Imitation of Christ and The Rule of St Benedict.

The tradition of self denial, which is in fact the true call of Jesus and the only call He gives any of us, when He calls us to Himself, is a tradition that stresses a central image of true humanity, which goes all the way back to the why the Gospels are in the Bible.  It is a tradition that rightly recognises that the Gospels are not provided for our intellectual assent to Jesus’ historical life, but rather foremost to grant us the one true guide on how we should live as human beings.

The Gospels are written to show us how to live— to actually imitate the life of Jesus.  That is why Jesus says, “Deny your self, and follow me.”  Moreover, God has made to some extent, the healing of the world dependent on weather or not we choose to follow Jesus.  For only in following Him can we begin truly living like human beings.

Within this context, we should thus realise that self denial is not something based on ideas of having to live with a “poverty mindset” or deny the very real and material nature of God’s blessings.  But rather, self denial is simply based on a true knowledge and comprehension of what it means to truly live like a human being.  When that knowledge is received, self denial becomes an act of calling and joyful vocation.  We begin joyfully denying our self because we have come to know that only here are living according to our high calling as real people upon the earth.  But to do that, requires our reception of a special kind of joy, and it is a joy that is freely received from the One who is humanity par excellence.

Jesus is humanity par excellence

I submit to you that there was a man who was truly human and remains the True Human, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the one who laid down his life for His friends.  He is the one who put Himself in harm’s way and suffered harm’s way for the preservation of the entire human race.  He did so because in doing so, he truly behaved and acted as a true human.  He acted as true as a human life can ever be.

Christians rightly confess and know Jesus as the image of God.  Even more so, we have come to know He is God in the flesh.  In Him, we see God, and by his behaviour, we see and know the true personality of God.  Yet I will here also remind us that in Jesus we see true humanity.  In Him we see what human life is designed to be.

This confession that Jesus is not only truly God but truly human, is true because after His resurrection from the dead, Jesus did not stop being human.  After he rose from the dead, He remained human.  This is why He rose from the dead with an indestructible though fully physical and material body.  Even now at this moment, Jesus reigns in heaven through His very real and physically material body.  Moreover, there will come a day when He will appear and like Thomas, we will see the nail scars in His hands.

The entire weight of these reflections rest upon a cardinal doctrine, which if we in any way undermine, we therein commit heresy concerning the person of Jesus.  This doctrine we must confess in order to lift up the name of Jesus over all things, is that He is truly God and He is truly human.  As the ancient creeds effectively established the concluding synthesis of the biblical story of Jesus’ coming, death and resurrection, Jesus is and will always be truly God and truly human.  In Him we see two distinct natures, the divine and human, clearly distinguishable, yet wholly different; undivided, yet inseparable.  He is and will always be, truly God and truly Human.

If we are to therefore truly worship Him as God, and if we are to preach Him fully lifted up in all His saving glory, we must also confess Him and preach Him in all His true Humanity.  For in Him we therefore also see who were born to be, if we are ever to become truly human.  He dies to restore our humanity.  When He lives in us, He works in us to restore our humanity, by setting us on a path of human restoration.

In Jesus Christ we see not only the potential of true human life, but even more so, a vision for a true human society and human culture.  We therefore also see a vision for a new humanity upon the face of the earth.  That is why the Scripture says that Jesus is the beginning of a new humanity.  He is the First Man of a new humanity.  He is therefore the true paradigm for a true human life and human existence.

When we look at Jesus, we therefore see what were born to be.  We were born to be like Jesus.  This is God’s true purpose for all human life; to become like Jesus.  This is why the ancients said, “God became man, so that man might become something like God.”  This again is why if we want to know what God is like, we should look at Jesus, for He is not only the true man, but in Him, we see who God is.  For God is love, and love acts without regard for one’s self but wholly for the sake of those outside our self.  For this reason, God created humankind in His image that we might reflect the likeness of God in how we live.  This is our true human calling.

The process of becoming human is the process of becoming like Jesus.  So complete is the process that He works upon us both from the inside and from the outside.  There is no antithesis between the two processes.  On one hand, he works within us, transforming us from the inside out.  On the other hand, He works outside us, presenting Himself to us as our Teacher and ourselves to Him as disciples called to follow Him.  Through both ways, the goal is the same: that we might live as human beings.  When that happens, we realise that self-denial is indeed not a method towards Christ-likeness, but rather simply the fruit of becoming human, and thus, of becoming like Christ.

Servant-leadership and the vocation of true humanity

In bringing these reflections to a closure, I will now draw attention to the second theme I find so poignantly illustrated in the film 2012; this is theme of true leadership.  Moreover, this theme of true leadership is what Jesus argued as, servant-leadership.

In the movie 2012, one of the chief architects of those mammoth lifeboats was something of what we might call, a visionary leader.  He had a grand vision and it was a vision for the preservation of the human race.  To some extent, we may argue that this man possessed a noble vision.  He believed his vision was for the greater good of humanity.

This man was also a practical leader.  He was a pragmatic leader as well, because He well knew that to be most effective and efficient, he had to make practical choices that may involve refraining from higher moral ideals.  Hence, he chose not to jeopardise the lives of the few by opening the boat to the many.

This man therefore chose to insure the security of the boat and the few in the boat, by choosing not to risk the security of the boat by opening the boat to so many others hoping to step into the security of the boat.  So in all these presumptions, we have a picture of practical, pragmatic and sometimes of visionary leadership.  But in view of the true humanity of Jesus, this is a way of leadership that is nonetheless, subhuman.

Yet the other man, who I want to say was the true leader, argued that preservation of the human race is still not possible unless we seek to preserve the human race through and upon the high moral foundation of self-denial.  As earlier mentioned, this man who was the true leader, argued that a new world that is truly human cannot be rightly established unless such a world is founded upon actions involving genuine risks through the giving of our lives for one another.

This man who was the true leader, therefore sought to persuade those in the boat to risk their own secure future by taking the wild risk of opening the boat to all those outside the boat.  He called upon everyone in the boat to do so, even if in doing so, the boat might sink in the process of getting everyone into the boat.  He argued that failure to do that is to behave not as humans but as animals.  He therefore understood that true leadership is not about putting one’s personal interest before others, but about putting the interest of others before one’s own interest.  He understood that true leadership is always the laying down of our life for the common good.  He understood that true leadership is servant-leadership.

Jesus is not only the True Man but he is the true leader of the human race.  Jesus said that the rulers of this age love to be lord over others, but that is not true leadership.  True leadership is serving others.  Serving always has its penultimate and highest expression in the laying down of our life for one another.  That is what Jesus taught and it is what he modeled— not only to secure our redemption into restored humanity, but to grant us an example of true humanity.  He did this in the expectation that we would actually emulate as an act of our will, having had our will empowered by the Spirit of Christ who lives within us.

Jesus did not just give His life for us, but He modeled to us what it means to be a true human and how to live like a true human being.  It is not enough to even say, “I’ll let Jesus live through me.”  It is important to know that Jesus lives in you and that is where it all begins.  Then when He begins to live in you, you will always face choices every day, where circumstance call upon you to behave like Jesus.  That comes through an act of your will and obedience to His Word.  You can choose to disobey the Lord, even as a Christian.  For this reason, many Christians know the Lord, but actually disobey Him.  Such Christians the Bible calls, fleshy Christians; Christian who remain like spiritual babies.  However, there are times when we all disobey the Lord.  So you must choose to follow Jesus, observe how He lives, and starting acting like Him.  If you do, He will guide your steps and place your feet into His footsteps.

I have digressed here, but I am talking about servant leadership.  True leadership begins with laying down our life for others.  Any aspiration that begins with the preservation of one’s self is not true leadership.  That is a kind of leadership founded something less than a truly human life.

Some months ago, I was engaged in a discussion with a group about the nature of leadership.  In that discussion, someone suggested that there are many kinds of leadership, one of which is the idea of servant leadership, and another is what we might call visionary leadership, and that they are not the same.

Let me point out that for a Christian, there is only one valid kind of leadership, and that is servant leadership.  Any other kind of leadership model or style that fails to recognize Jesus’ model of servant leadership as the foundation, is a subhuman form of leadership.  In a truly biblical worldview, Jesus’ pattern of servant leadership and the concept of visionary leadership are not antithetical styles, but they are the same.  Having a vision for a world founded upon true justice where God’s righteousness and peace prevails requires nothing less than a great people who have discovered their true vocation as servant leaders.

Sometimes in life, there is a moment of truth, which will call on us to choose either the way of self-preservation or the way of self denial.  In the moment of truth, how will we live?  How will we live in the moment of truth, when Jesus comes to us and says let it all go?  How will we live in the moment of truth, when Jesus says let it all go and follow me?  How will live in the moment of truth, when in that moment we are called upon to either act without regard for our own security or even safety , if in doing so, we might secure the life and posterity of other individuals besides our self?

But the truth is that in an infinite number of small and unknown ways, the moment virtually always comes to us every day of our life.  Abraham was able to offer up Issac on Mount Moriah because his whole life revealed a pattern of hearing and responding to God’s call every day of his life.  Every day God calls us and every day we are given a choice to either obey or disobey the Word of God.  Make no mistake about it:  the New Testament does not shrink from describing Christian life according to the language of obedience and disobedience.  “Today, if you Hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.”  And a moment of truth will come when you are also called up to the top of Mount Moriah.  And there maybe even several times or more when He will call you up to the top of Mount Moriah, and offer your life a living sacrifice.

The healing of both our selves and those, whom we might need to lay down our life for, will come through the way of self-denial.  So part of the good news is that our own healing— the healing of our soul, is found through simply living like a true human being.  The healing of our soul and the healing of the world, is only found through losing our selves in the saving of those not on the boat, but who also long for a new world waiting to be born.

What do you think about global warming ? don’t you feel that everywhere feels hotter than 10 years ago  ?
in my place , the temperature rise around 3 or 5 C from last 5 -10 years .

this is a picture that i get from a website . i think this is how earth looks like if human always destroying nature .
about this photo ” A dramatic picture taken by Michael Nolan has been dubbed the face of Mother Nature crying on a canvas of melting ice and cascading water on a Norwegian Glacier. Randy Schutt discovered this amazing photo which shows a crying face in an ice cap located on Nordaustlandet, in the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. The tears of this natural sculpture were created by a waterfall of glacial water cascading from one of the face’s eyes, thus painting an alarming picture warning the world about the effects of global warming. Michael Nolan is a marine photographer and environmental lecturer. He has captured this picture while on an annual voyage to observe the glacier and surrounding wildlife.”

this is a quote from Michael Nolan

This is how one would imagine mother nature would express her sentiments about our inability to reduce global warming. It seemed an obvious place for her to appear, on a retreating ice shelf, crying.

because we are talking about human and nature , i just wonder how can we prevent or erase global warming in our world ?
do you think if we plant a tree in our house , can we help earth to prevent global warming ? how about reducing our car usage ?
yeah may be it can help a little bit , but i don’t think we can erase global warming in our world if we still have a factory that always have a ton of waste everyday , or a man who always cutting a tree for his living .

about earth future , which one of these choice is the most appropriate for earth?

1. space colonization
2. computer will be decision maker
3. full of humanoid
4. a computer implanted in human brains
5. speed above light speed
6. back to nature
7. time travel
8. mass extinction

Have you ever felt like you are being pushed against a wall that you feel like screaming when someone says to you that they know you very well? Do you know anyone so well, can you swear for someone and can you assume you know someone? They try to belittle you in ways to bend you into their perception of you and you may bend to the accusations. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are times when people assume that you are someone you are not probably because they are like the same which they have accused you of or have judged you on your past misdeed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Don’t be moved by others perception of you. What’s important is what you believe; who you genuinely are, your ideals and principles and most importantly your truths about you. Not what others perceive you to be. Not their assumptions or preconceived notions of you probably judged on your appearance and your past. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are others who wish to see you fail in life and falter simply because they can’t believe that you are who you say you are. They like to climb their ladder of success while they keep pushing you down. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

They are going to assume everything inconceivably bad about you and if you love and believe in yourself, you will never be moved by it. There are those wanting to find some bad things to whisper against you, that they will make up a story about you, so convincing that it becomes believable rumors and gossip. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will look for every corner to lay obstacles in your path to see you fail and beware some are done by your close friend as they may know you very well. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

They’ll even set you up with friends to see that you are stained, and when all fail they may create strife between you and the ones who are closest to you. Be aware of those. Reminding you again, they maybe your close friends and family. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

There are those who will smile with you and will stab you in the back as soon as you have turned you face/back with idle whispers to another. The two-faced ones. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

There are those who hate to see you climb that ladder of success, those who would see you down and can help but won’t because you will become a better person and will be a challenge to them.

There are those who hate that you are well educated and has become a force to reckon with as you are no longer spoon fed with their garbage and has become well informed and no longer depend on them to ‘nurture your mind’ like babies. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Importantly, watch your friends who really befriend you to maliciously want to know about you, so they can talk of your confidential whispers to them. You usually know your enemies but they are sometimes in the midst and closest to your heart; the ones whom you trust with your innermost thoughts and secrets, entitled friends, but are really ‘fiends’ in disguise. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

Probably something they tried for years at and never was successful at and you did it with one whiff of a breath and has become envy and jealous of you. They may overlook the fact that what they had tried was not for them but was meant for you but some tend to walk around all their lives believing that life is unfair to them, when things they wanted were not meant for them and envy you all their lives, carry around bitterness and animosity towards you all because of jealousy and envy. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Instead of finding our purpose and enjoy and fulfill it. We tend to envy others and what they have; their jobs, status, finances and even their children/family to try to be like them or be better than them; poisoning selfish greed. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Sometimes people are jealous of you that they would cause you to lose your job, and family with false accusations leading to strife in family and jobs. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

I am always happy for others and their achievements in life as long as it’s done honestly. Your accomplishments are yours, your gifts are yours, they are distinct gifts from your design. I don’t envy others, I may see something and wish for it, but I don’t envy. There are times when you must let go off those wishes which are sometimes borne out of envy, jealousy, selfishness and greed because you want to be better than someone. However, everyone can achieve success in life.

Just don’t assume that your next door neighbor’s success will be same as yours. Try and find your purpose and distinct niche. Not saying you can’t achieve success like someone else, just don’t dwell on becoming exactly like someone because you may get what you wish for and don’t know what to do with it nor able to handle it because it was not meant for you like the one you envied as all it really was simply greed.

Don’t get discouraged by someone’s perception and opinion of you. Everyone will not love you but some will and when others find lies and misconceptions about you to make you feel small, the ones created in their minds. Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway

Who cares of others opinion of you? Don’t stress nor lose a wink of a sleep on it, that’s their perception and that’s their business, not yours. Know who you are and believe who you are. Live who you are and love who you are. Only try to change the negative things you could change about yourself. Stop convincing others of who you are.

Stop living up to others expectations of you. Aren’t you tired of living up to others expectation, impression, perception and opinions of you? That’s their opinion. That’s their business, who cares?

You can’t please everyone and don’t go changing to fit someone’s personality, you are who you are and uniquely so.

Stop pretending to be who you are not, to appease their minds and please them.

Stop trying to keep up with the ‘Joneses’ on the outside while you are ‘bankrupt’ on the inside. Simply be the very utmost best you can be.

Stop hiding your face and hiding your face behind somebody. Show your entire face, be bold. Walk in/with your own shadow, not anyone’s.

Believe in yourself and love yourself anyway.

I love who I am. Every pore, way down to my core.

Written by Donique C. Perez Copyrighted 2009/11/24 All rights reserved

As I promised, today I will present three new friends who I’ve not yet added to this blog, but that are vital to understanding all of my stories. Here they are:

Purce – He’s known as “the fat man”, for his enduring hunger and his fury in pounce on the food. He’s a good guy even if he’s a bit ‘with his head in the clouds. He’s one of the few in our group not to have a passion for video games, but in despite of this, he has not yet tried the sexual experience. Our goal is to find him a woman. 20 years old

Fra – is the “Viking junior”. He’s a first class nerd, but that’s not what make him famous. His specialties are the pick-up phrases that he proposes to use whit women. His little dream is to have a giant war hammer to kill everyone that he dislikes. 20 years old

Gibbo – He’s the jester of the group. He’s crazy, full of obsessions and bizarre ideas. He consider himself something like a philosopher or a guru, but he’s a total lunatic, always ready to do anything stupid. However, when needed, he knows how to be a serious and reliable person, and he’s always willing to help others. He thinks he’s a great driver, but he has already destroyed a car. 22 years

Source : http://freeaafia.org/

Mit der Globalisierung der Wirtschaft haben sich auch die Verwaltungsstrukturen der Unternehmen über die Welt verbreitet. Management ist zu einem weltumspannenden Schlagwort geworden und bestimmt die Handlungsweise von Amerika bis Asien.

Organisieren, koordinieren, kommandieren, kontrollieren – die hölzerne, inzwischen weit verbreitete Sprache der Wirtschaftstechnokraten kündet von unfehlbarer Verwaltungseffizienz. Allerorten macht sich der neue Glaubenssatz von Industrialisierung und Verwestlichung breit. Von Stanford bis Tokio, von Madrid bis Dakar, von Athen bis zu den Pariser Vorstädten – überall befindet man sich im “Reich, in dem die Sonne nie untergeht”, im allmächtigen Managementimperium.

„Management“ heißt der kommunikationswirksame Verkaufsschlager der westlichen Industrieländer. Hinter dem Zeitgeist-Konzept verbirgt sich ein uralter, der westlichen Tradition entsprungener Begriff, der sich ursprünglich auf Haus, Familie, Gerätschaften und Haushaltsführung bezog.
Von Ökonomen aufbereitet und mit einer wissenschaftlich-technischen Aura versehen, wurde „Management“ zur Wirtschaftsdoktrin, zu einem Propagandainstrument der neuen Globalisierung eines Marktes ohne Grenzen.

Genau wie die großen religiösen und politischen Imperien ist auch das weltweite Management ein Teil der Geschichte. Wer den Versuch wagt, die Entwicklung der Gesellschaft über einen sehr langen Zeitraum nach dem Muster der Erdgeschichte zu analysieren, wird auf die „geologischen“ Schichten einer Zeitarchitektur stoßen, die den Ist-Zustand der Zivilisationen in sich tragen. Traditionen überlagern sich wie Sedimente, auf deren Oberfläche jeweils eine neue Epoche entsteht, die dessen harrt, was unausweichlich auf den Menschen zukommt.

Jede Form von Modernität ruht daher gewissermaßen auf einer verschütteten Vergangenheit, die sich der Mensch in Mythen oder wissenschaftlichen Deutungen zu erklären versucht. Doch um sich mit der Endlichkeit abzufinden, sie gewissermaßen zu bezähmen, bedarf eine menschliche Gesellschaft der Fähigkeit, die Schattenlinie zu erkennen, die jene Momente markiert, an denen Unumkehrbares geschieht. So gesehen, ist die lange Geschichte einer Zivilisation ein einziges, aus Schriftsedimenten bestehendes Textkompositum, durchzogen von eben dieser Schattenlinie, die eine nie endende Inszenierung der Zeit gestattet, eine Untiefe der Erinnerung, die ihr Spiel mit der Wirklichkeit treibt und dem Unsagbaren huldigt.

Der Film versteht sich als eine Reflexion über den globalisierenden Westen. Er will an der Oberfläche der Sedimentschicht unserer Epoche den Moment entschlüsseln, der eine neue Qualität gegenüber den Brüchen und Übergängen der Vergangenheit darstellt: Wir leben heute in einer Ideenwüste leben, die aus dem Irrglauben geboren wurde, dass die Menschheit – unter der Wirkung der wissenschaftlich-technischen Wirtschaftsallmacht – zu einer dem Glück geweihten und von allen Zwängen befreiten „Post-Menschheit“ mutiert.

Laut diesem neuen Glauben befinden sich die desaktivierten, zu bloßer Folklore verkommenden Zivilisationen auf dem Wege der Selbstvernichtung. Damit erübrigen sich die Analyse des Textkompositums der Gesellschaft und die Suche nach der Schattenlinie, auch ist es nicht mehr nötig, eine Gesellschaft mit ihren unfassbaren Geheimnissen, ihrer Verletzlichkeit begreifen und ihr schöpferisches Potenzial und ihren Umgang mit den ihr eigenen Todestrieben erkennen zu wollen.

Die Arbeitsthese dieses filmischen Essays ist ein Satz, den Jean Paulhan in einer Abhandlung über die kubistische Malerei verwendete: „Entfernt die Bäume, die mir den Blick auf den Wald verstellen.“ Diese Metapher aus dem Pflanzenreich habe ich mir zum Grundsatz gemacht, denn unserer Zeit fehlt es an Erklärungen; ein Defizit, das durch die Fragmentierung und Abschottung des Wissens weiter akzentuiert wird. Doch genau diese Erstarrung hindert uns daran, eine Welt zu begreifen, die aus den Fugen gerät, aber nach wie vor in tief wurzelnden, noch immer wirksamen Traditionen verankert ist. Manche dieser Traditionen sind im Untergang begriffen, andere aber trotzen der Gleichschaltung durch die westlichen Systeme.
In dieser Partie mit unsicherem Ausgang ist das weltweite Management – vom Westen als reines Instrument der Vereinheitlichung mittels wissenschaftlich begründeten Verwaltens konzipiert – ein neuer Einsatz/Trumpf.

Wie bereits frühere Filme des Autors stellt auch „Dominium Mundi – Die Weltherrschaft des Managements“ von Wirtschafts- und Gesellschaftswissenschaftlern, Biologen und anderen zementierte Gewissheiten infrage. Die Methode des Films besteht nicht darin, sein Sujet – die Funktionsweise einer Zivilisation – zu zerpflücken und zu zerstückeln. Vielmehr seziert er es in der Manier des Kubismus: aus allen Perspektiven, von innen und von außen.

Grundansatz und Anliegen des Films ist es, die Fähigkeit zum Widerstand und die Fortdauer des „Materials Mensch“ sowie die immer währenden Widersprüche, die gewaltigen industriellen Umbrüche und die poetischen Rückzugsmöglichkeiten aufzuzeigen, die ein Film greifbar machen kann, wenn er mit der Gründlichkeit einer literarischen Erzählung vorgeht. Formal handelt es sich bei dem Film also nicht um ein Lehrstück, sondern um die Enthüllung miteinander verquickter Fragestellungen, die aus einem ganz einfachen Grunde undurchsichtig und schwer zu umreißen sind: Denn was der Westen vom Westen nicht wahrnimmt, kann auch in unsere Analysen nicht einfließen.

3200203    ร่างกายมนุษย์ 1    Human Body I

พัฒนาการ มหกายวิภาคศาสตร์ จุลกายวิภาคศาสตร์ สรีรวิทยา และชีวเคมีของร่างกายมนุษย์ ได้แก่ ระบบหัวใจและหลอดเลือด ระบบต่อมไร้ท่อ ระบบภูมิคุ้มกัน รวมทั้งกล้ามเนื้อและกระดูกที่เกี่ยวข้อง

(Development, gross anatomy, histology, physiology and biochemistry of human body: cardiovascular system, endocrine system, immune system and related muscles and bones.)

(3200203 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200204    ปฏิบัติการร่างกายมนุษย์ 1    Human Body Laboratory I

ปฏิบัติการทางมหกายวิภาคศาสตร์ จุลกายวิภาคศาสตร์ สรีรวิทยา และชีวเคมีของร่างกายมนุษย์ ได้แก่ ระบบโครงสร้างกระดูกและกล้ามเนื้อ ระบบหัวใจและหลอดเลือด ระบบผิวหนัง และโครงสร้างที่เกี่ยวข้อง

(Anatomical, histological, physiological and biochemical laboratory of human body: musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular system, integumentary system and related structures.)

(3200204 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200205    พัฒนาการและเนื้อเยื่อพื้นฐานของมนุษย์    Development and Basic Human Tissue

มหกายวิภาคของพัฒนาการของร่างกายมนุษย์ ตั้งแต่เป็นเซลล์สืบพันธุ์จนกระทั่งคลอด รวมถึงความผิดปกติที่อาจเกิดขึ้นได้ โครงสร้างส่วนละเอียดของเซลล์ เนื้อเยื่อบุผิว เนื้อเยื่อเกี่ยวพัน กล้ามเนื้อ และเนื้อเยื่อประสาท ลักษณะพื้นฐาน บทบาทและการทำงานของระบบประสาทและระบบกล้ามเนื้อ โดยเน้นการประยุกต์ใช้ทางคลินิก

(Anatomy of the development of human body from gametes until birth and the possible anomalies; detailed structures of cells, epithelial tissues, connective tissues, muscular tissues and nervous tissues; basic characteristics, roles and functions of the nervous and muscular systems emphasizing clinical applications.)

(3200205 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200206    ปฏิบัติการเนื้อเยื่อพื้นฐานของมนุษย์    Basic Human Tissue Laboratory

ส่วนประกอบ วิธีการใช้และบำรุงรักษากล้องจุลทรรศน์แบบใช้แสง ซึ่งรวมถึงวิธีการเตรียมชิ้นเนื้อทางจุลกายวิภาคศาสตร์ โครงสร้างส่วนละเอียดของเซลล์ เนื้อเยื่อบุผิว เนื้อเยื่อเกี่ยวพัน กล้ามเนื้อ และเนื้อเยื่อประสาท การใช้เครื่องมือทางสรีรวิทยาในห้องปฏิบัติการ เพื่ออธิบายพฤติกรรมการตอบสนองต่อสิ่งกระตุ้นของระบบประสาทและกล้ามเนื้อ

(Components, usage and maintenance of light microscope including procedures for the preparation of histological sections; detailed structures of cells, epithelial tissues, connective tissues, muscular tissues and nervous tissues; use of physiological instrumentation to explain how nerves and muscles respond to stimuli.)

(3200206 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200207    ร่างกายมนุษย์ 2    Human Body II

พัฒนาการ มหกายวิภาคศาสตร์ จุลกายวิภาคศาสตร์ สรีรวิทยา และชีวเคมีของร่างกายมนุษย์ ได้แก่ ระบบการหายใจ ระบบทางเดินอาหาร ระบบต่อมไร้ท่อ ระบบปัสสาวะและระบบสืบพันธุ์

(Development, anatomy, histology, physiology and biochemistry of human body: respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system and urogenital system)

(3200207 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200208    ปฏิบัติการร่างกายมนุษย์ 2    Human Body Laboratory II

ปฏิบัติการทางมหกายวิภาคศาสตร์ จุลกายวิภาคศาสตร์ สรีรวิทยา และชีวเคมีของร่างกายมนุษย์ ได้แก่ ระบบการหายใจ ระบบทางเดินอาหาร ระบบต่อมไร้ท่อ ระบบปัสสาวะและระบบสืบพันธุ์ และโครงสร้างที่เกี่ยวข้อง

(Anatomical, histological, physiological and biochemical laboratory of human body: respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, endocrine system, urogenital system and related structures.)

(3200208 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3200209    ระบบประสาทมนุษย์และหน้าที่    Human Brain and Function

พัฒนาการ กายวิภาค และหน้าที่ของระบบประสาทส่วนกลางและประสาทออโตโนมิก วิถีประสาทและกลไกของการรับความรู้สึกทางกาย การรับความรู้สึกพิเศษและการสั่งงาน การทำงานของเส้นประสาทสมอง การรับรู้และการตอบสนองทั้งในสภาวะปกติและเมื่อมีพยาธิสภาพ

(Development, anatomy and function of the central and autonomic nervous system, pathways and mechanism of somatic sensation, special sensation and motor system, function of cranial nerves; perception and response in normal and pathological conditions.)

(3200209 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

So my friend’s new boy toy got me thinkin…..

He’s a junior, he’s attractve, he was in the military, he’s drivin, and he SINGS!!!!!!!! HE SINGS!!! (and well!!!!)

Is it wrong that I’m attracted to him? I mean I’m only human right? It’s not like I want to be with him but is it wrong that I’m slightly jealous of the aCe just because she is available to talk to him?

Don’t get me wrong……I love my fiance with all of my being but a part of me still wonders what life would be like with someone else…….or even alone for that matter.

But then he reminds me why no one else in this world could make me smile the way that he does;

how no one in this lifetime will put me at peace the way that he does;

and how in no one else’s arms will I feel as secure and loved.

No one will ever love me the way he does

and I’m happy with that!!

=]

Sometimes, a human treat other human like dog whereas the same human behaves like human with the pet dog