Nobel Peace Prize

My one minute writing prompt this morning is to write about who I would recommend for the Nobel Peace Prize. I guess President Obama's recent award has spurred on a lot of discussion and commentary especially due to the fact of the timing of the award so early on in his term. I must admit I was quite surprised to hear of his award and it spurred me on to do some research on the actual award and how it is given, etc.

According to Alfred Nobel's will the prize should be awarded "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses," (Wikipedia) Well, I certainly do not qualify!!!


What was surprising to me was maybe some of the people who did NOT get the Peace Prize. Most of these recipients I am unfamiliar with but some of them seemed like obvious choices from my sparse knowledge of history. The judges are 5 people from Norway ---Nobel's theory was there would be less political corruption if Norway was the final judge of who received it since at the time he created it Norway and Sweden were joined and Sweden was responsible for all foreign policy.


In 2009 there were a record 205 nominations! Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which recognize completed scientific or literary accomplishment, the Nobel Peace Prize may be awarded to persons or organizations that are in the process of resolving a conflict or creating peace. (Wikipedia)

Okay--- so I keep thinking about this and my limited knowledge of who should receive this award who hasn't so far and all I could come up with was Ghandi. The Committee has confirmed that Gandhi was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948. Seems like he should have gotten more than just a nomination sometime. But it is good food for thought today, don't you think?? To think about who has promoted peace and fought for it. There are a lot of good people doing good things out there to promote peace and it makes me want to learn a little bit more about the whole process. But for today those are my thoughts!!!!

The Ten Commandments---Laws of the Heart

My sister, Paula, and I are reading a book together. She chose a book the first time that she has been wanting to read and it has been a good choice. We decided that our way of "discussing" it would be just using our blogs to "talk" to each other about it. So this week it is my turn and feel free to tune out if you wish or chime in if you wish!!! So here it goes.

Chapter 2: Joan Chittister's The Ten Commandments: Laws of the Heart the focus is on the second commandment: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. And the chapter is titled The Law of Respect. On first reading of that commandment I have a pretty shallow concept and always have of what it means. I "assume" that it just means to not swear using God's name. Something I don't do so I figure I have that one licked. HA! Ms. Chittister sheds a little bit more depth to it than I had considered.

Much time is spent discussing the concept of a name and how it means different things to different cultures. In the Native American culture names are given to children that indicate a spirit that is seen in them. When children are named after their parents it denotes that lineage and links them to the past. And when Moses asked God "What is your name?" it has more to it than what appears on the surface. God's response of "...I am who I am. I am Being. I am Life. I am Creator." blows me away. I mean really....think about it. How can we even begin to imagine??? Which leads the author to even more thoughts about the second commandment that I hadn't thought of!

Probably the part of this chapter that challenged me the most was the following exerpt:
"The second commandment tells us not only to risk the corruption of God's name, it also tells us not to play with God's name, with God's being, with God's power. It tells us to not use God's name uselessly.It is useless to use God's name to prove the untrue. It is useless, as well, to use God's name to do what God would never do. This is the sin of those who put themselves in the place of God."

Hmm...so are we talking about idle threats of bad things happening to someone because of a lifestyle choice or when we say that a natural disaster is because God is displeased?? Who gives us that right? And....are we trying to be God when we make those statements and judgments????

The author gives several things to ponder at the end of the chapter and several of them focus on things that I need to mull over more! But one stuck out to me that is making me think more. "God is not my own private, mobile hex sign meant to be used against anyone I don't like. God is what calls me to be godly." Think on it.

Dream Time

I am a dreamer! I mean I really am. I will wake up in the morning and tell Chris what I dreamed about and he will just shake his head and ask me what I ate or drank before I went to bed. I think it is a great thing. I don't have scary dreams too often and when I do I usually wake up from them before something really bad happens. But last night was an amusing one---- and since Chris is in Canada I couldn't share it with him so you get to read all about it.

I was with the boys---Micah and Aaron and we were driving through some countryside someplace and all of the sudden we saw a mushroom cloud of the bomb type ahead of us erupting. Micah told me to go straight (I was driving) and when I did I ended up driving through a large door and ended up in a barnyard (I did get lost in a barnyard in Kentucky one time but that is another story for another day). As we got closer to the mushroom cloud, ninjas jumped out at us and started attacking us so we jumped out of the car and started fighting them. I seem to remember that Micah was much better than I was at this.....Then I yelled at Micah and told him I was going to go take Aaron to the car since we were down to only one ninja to fight and I thought he could handle it and I would get the car ready to leave the area and come back an get him after I got Aaron settled. Oh and did I tell you that Aaron apparently had no arms or legs???? Not quite sure how he was fighting the ninjas but he was....
l
I took Aaron to the car and all I can remember is he was searching through my purse for coins to use to buy this candy he had seen someplace in the farm called Tea Tree Candy that he just had to have. Now how he was doing this with no arms or hands is beyond me but I just remember telling him before I woke up that I had to go NOW to help Micah fight the ninja off.....and then I woke up.

If that didn't put a smile on your face and a head shake I don't know what will. Sweet dreams everyone!!!

Useless Information

Went to the library today since it was such an icky rainy day to load up on reading material while Chris is gone and found a book called "The World's Greatest Book of Useless Infomation". It is something that my brother in law, Carl, would like I think! So today I thought i would offer up some bits of wisdom from this book for your reading pleasure! There is a world of useless info out there just waiting to be told!

1. A "keeper" is the loop on the belt that holds the loose end.
2. D. H. Lawrence enjoyed taking off his clothes and climbing up mulberry trees.
3. John Grisham is a distant cousin of former president Bill Clinton.
4. The board game Scrabble can be found in 1 out of 3 American homes.
5. Between one and two horse jockeys are killed each year while horse racing.
6. Four percent of the food people eat in a lifetime is consumed in front of an open refrigerator.
7. The darker an olive is, the higher the oil content.
8. The sun's warming rays travel 93 million miles to reach earth.
9. The average lifespan of a human taste bud is 7 - 10 days.
10. People who attend church, synagogue, or other religious services once a week live to be an average age of 82 while non church goers live to an average age of 75.
11. Napoleon reportedly carried chocolate on all of his military campaigns.
12. In Iceland, tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult.

That's it for today. Amaze someone with your knowledge!!! :-)

What do YOU think?

It was movie weekend in the Chiles household this weekend and we almost overdosed on movies I think but it was fun to see some of the new ones out there and some old ones we loved on tv! We went to see "The Invention of Lying" and it is one of those movies that is invoking a lot of discussion. Most of the reviews that I have read are touting it as an atheist film with nothing redeeming in it at all. I don't know that I would go that far and would welcome any comments from any of you out there in the blogasphere that have seen it! Just leave me a comment at the end of the blog! I would love to hear your reactions.

If you haven't seen the movie yet the basic story line is that in this town no one can tell a lie. Everything is told in brutal truth--no censorship at all so if someone is say a little plumper than those stick figure models in magazines they know it because others are relentless in telling them that they are fat or pudgy or whatever.There is no filter whatsoever. And it got me thinking about my filters.....and I admit it---I use them. I don't always tell the complete truth.

An example happened right before we went to the movie!!! We went to a local restaurant for a bit of a bite to eat before the movie. Ended up just getting a couple of appetizers since we really were not all that hungry and both of the things we ordered were horrible---absolutely horrible. And yet....when the waitress asked several times if everything was okay I LIED and said it was fine. Now I did not gush and go on and on like i sometimes do when the food on my palate is sensational but I did not tell her that it was horrible either. And it made me wonder why I did that. I mean---we were paying for the food and it was really not good at all. So why did I feel that I should hide the truth and spare her feelings when she had not even prepared it??? I was avoiding confrontation I know and at that point it just did not seem like it was that big of a deal in the big scheme of things. So my response to the bad food is to just not go back to that particular place again and they have lost a customer without ever really knowing why they lost a customer. Is that fair??? Hmmm. I don't know.

So the movie had some good lines in it and the reference to God was about "The Man in the Sky" and I guess at times it may have been seen to mock Christianity but at other times I think it challenged Christians to look at their own lives and examine them and how they value the truth. Do we tell lies to avoid confrontation, to avoid hurting someone's feelings??? And is that right? Is there a way to tell the truth with heart and try to temper it and soften it??? Is there anyone among us who tells the truth all the time---no white lies, no little exaggerations??? I don't know. I know that even though I place a huge value on honesty I am guilty.

The movie proceeds with the main character realizing that he can fib, he can lie and as a result he can manipulate things and people. They all believe him totally when he tells a lie and the movie proceeds with more though provoking moments. I will let you come to your own conclusions about the way the movie ends but if nothing else it led me to think a little deeper about things. I guess I got that from my dad---he always could find some redeeming quality in a movie even if it was "Clockwork Orange".

So think about it today----it is worth putting some thought into --this whole lying thing. And let me know what you are thinking. I would love to hear it!

Six Word Saturday

My one minute writing prompt today is to describe your life in six words---could be a phrase, could be a string of words, whatever you choose. And this is what I came up with for me today:
Completely and totally happy and content

Reflections

So does anyone else feel incredibly blessed today??? I was sitting here just thinking about how wonderful life is. I have such an incredible family (both my side and my hubby's side!!!) and some of the best friends in the world that a person could ever have. Even though I don't actually live close to any of the closest ones anymore I still have that feeling that I can pick up right where we left off in our last conversation with most of them. That is amazing to me. Life happens. And boy---life has happened big time to me!!! Most of you know that it has not always been smooth sailing for me or for that matter of fact for any of us here on this earth. We all experience those ups and downs and sometimes it seems that there are more downs than there are ups but through it all...God is good. I kind of think that as long as I stay focused on that I can handle just about anything that is thrown at me.

Somewhere along the line I discovered that I am a person of worth. That was not always an easy concept for an awkward, gawky, gangly pre-teen and teenager. I didn't have the greatest self esteem in the world and never really liked who I was. But somehow I figured it out (that was definitely a God thing) and once I figured it out I liked who I was and realized that God had made me just like I am for a reason. I am still on that journey of trying to figure out what my purpose in life is but for right now I think I am just hanging out, trying to listen to what God has in store for me each and every day and then to DO IT!!! That is the hard part sometimes!

So today I count my blessings and am grateful for this day that God has given me. I hope I can make Him proud of me today and that I can show someone out there that this God thing is a worthwhile investment----that it seems amazing and it is AMAZING to be loved so completely and totally. It is definitely something that you can bank on and in this day of uncertainty isn't it nice to have something that is a sure thing---an investment that will reap benefits????