Life.Currenttoday.com - 2 Cents

First off, no geologists were harmed in the making of this article. I, however am in danger of becoming petrified in a mud slide.

There are basically two popular theories about the formation of the Grand Canyon. For this discussion, we’ll leave it that one theory is around 35 million years and the other around 20 million years for the formation.

Both theories include all the forces on the earth. The major force is the pressure of the water carving its way through the solid stone. For this discussion we’ll use the shorter time. Simplified, that water has been carving the Grand Canyon for 20 million years.

Around 20 million years ago the Colorado River carves into the Grand Canyon at its eastern end, Marble Canyon, and likely exiting through Kanab Canyon. 17 million years ago the Colorado Plateau uplifts causing deeper cutting.

Now, as a river cuts through the earth it reveals the layers of sediment from different periods in the earth’s history.

20 million years ago, the surface of the earth that was at the very top of the earth is the layer that is currently covered by 20 million years worth of new sediment. In other words, it is 20 million years down from the top of the earth’s surface today.

When the river started cutting it was at this 20 million year layer because the layers above that didn’t exist.

Well, the river cut deeper and deeper as the years progressed, while the new sediment over the last 20 million years was added above where the river first started cutting.

My question: How did sediment above the 20 million year mark get cut by water if the river was already below that point well before the new sediment even existed?

I’m not talking about wind and weather erosion. I’m talking about water cut sediment.

What am I saying? I’m saying that the newest level that was obviously cut by water will date when the water was there cutting it.

If you have a 1 million year old level that was cut by the Colorado, then the river was at that level to cut it after it had formed. Since that level didn’t exist until 1 million years ago, then the river couldn’t have cut below that point before it existed. Otherwise it wouldn’t be water cut. It would only have erosion.

I think we have to realize that the newest level that is obviously water cut will date when the river started cutting. It had to be there to be cut by the river. If the river started cutting 20 million years ago, and if we account for higher water levels in flooding, then nothing above 17 to 18 million years old could have been water cut. The river was well below that point before it would have existed. In Fact, it has cut fast enough to be at levels that are 1.7 billion years old today. So, if it started at a level 20 million years old, thats a total of 1.68 billion years of cutting in 20 million years.

The Colorado has been cutting through 84 million years of sediment every 1 million years. So, starting at a level 20 million years old, after only 1 million years, it would have been cutting at the 104 million year old level.

So, 19 million years ago the river would have been at the 104 million year old levels of the earths sediment. Do we have water cut levels above 19 million years old?

Anyone with any common sense whatsoever has to realize the river couldn’t have cut what didn’t exist.

Better get a new theory.

Regards.

Have you ever heard any of the following statements?

Spanking a child is cruel.
Spanking promotes violence.
It sets an example of violence when one is angry.
It promotes a poor self image.
It creates an atmosphere of fear.

I’m sure most of you have heard this from an expert.

Well, a baby, at the moment it pops its head out, is more intelligent than a dog will ever be.

How do you potty train a dog? That’s right, you rub its nose near its mess and give it a light whack. And, just an average dog will understand this in a very short period. When combined with reward for desired responses, dogs are very quick to learn.

Ruining a child is a horrible thing. There is nothing worse than a spoiled brat.

Training should follow the level of the child’s understanding. When they are young, they are almost completely animal like. All they understand at a young age is stimulus and response. As they grow older, reward and punishment should change with response.

By the time our daughter was an early teenager, spankings never needed to happen any more. In fact, nothing broke her heart more than to feel she hurt her mother or me.

This kind of response was fashioned by creating boundaries in her life very early. Even when she was just weeks old, she could already distinguish a positive vocal sound from a negative vocal sound. That, combined with a very light tap that grew harder as she grew older, is what developed a healthy sense of direction and obedience.

When is a child forming who they will be? When do they encapsulate the personality of who they are? Simply stated, it is anytime they are learning. So, when are they taking in and learning the most? When are they laying the foundation for the person they will become? From the first day of their lives a child is being formed.

The early years are the most critical for healthy development. And the early years are exactly when experts and psychologists say children understand the least, and won’t understand punishment as intended. Well, psychologists are stupid. Where were they in Psych 101 when Pavlov’s dogs were being taught to salivate at the sound of a bell? Baby’s are much smarter than dogs from day one. Stimulus is ALL they understand. And the quickest, most easy to understand stimulus is something that isn’t comfortable. They’ll sure let you know it when they’re hungry.

Understand, I’m not advocating cruelty of any kind. Punishment and reward will need to be different for each child. They are extremely different little rascals. Never abuse a child. Marks that linger for more than a moment are touching on abuse that can last for a lifetime. That said, a strong willed child can really make appropriate punishment difficult to achieve.

For the strong willed child, I recommend combining punishments. A brisk spanking with being deprived of some favorite thing for a period of time along with a discussion about the whole matter can be magical.

Now, lets never forget reward and praise. These are critical elements for the child’s self esteem. All negative with no positive will make the stupid psychologists closer to being right.

Now we can’t have that. No.

Regards.

The other day I heard a couple of Christians discussing which was right about the kind of music they used in their churches.

It was a fairly interesting discussion they were having. It left me thinking how stupid Christians are.

One of them went on and on about how it was wrong to use musical instruments in church. He said it was wrong to add anything to the bible, and used that as the entire basis for his argument. He said that the only instances of worship that were cited in the New Testament didn’t use any instruments. So, since they didn’t use instruments, it was wrong to use instruments.

The second guy kept bringing up the Old Testament. He said the Psalms were full of using instruments. But, this didn’t carry any weight with the first guy. He continued saying the Old Testament didn’t count any more. He said only the New Testament counted for Christians.

So, the whole time, these two guys went back and forth trying to convince each other which was right.

Well, the whole thing was completely silly to me. “Aren’t they both Christians,” I thought? Wasn’t the whole point of what they were supposed to be doing being completely destroyed by how they were acting?

I was left thinking how much they were hypocrites. They supposedly have this great news to share, and they weren’t sharing anything except how stupid Christians are.

I didn’t say anything at the time, but I kept thinking about it.

They were both absolutely wrong in my opinion.

The first guy said it was wrong to use instruments because that was outside the example in the New Testament. Well, if that’s what makes it wrong, then they better not be using any electronics to amplify their voices in his church. That would certainly be outside the example. I bet there weren’t any microphones in the bible. They better not be using any projectors or TV’s in his services. I’m sure those weren’t around either. Can he think one enhancement to the voice is different to another enhancement to the voice? Anyways, the whole point of his argument becomes rather ridiculous in about half a second of thought.

Also, I seem to remember where Jesus said the Word of God would never pass away. Yes, he said that as recorded in the New Testament, but, at the time he said it, the New Testament didn’t even exist. We didn’t have the New Testament. It wasn’t written yet. And it wasn’t put together as a unit until the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. So, Jesus was surely talking about what we call the Old Testament. That was all that existed. So, if he said the Word wouldn’t pass away for him, these stupid Christians should follow their leader.

Ok, the second guy was being absolutely judgmental and over-bearing about the whole thing. So, it wouldn’t matter if he were right or wrong. He was still dead wrong.

After giving it more thought, I’ve realized how I don’t have an argument to stand on either. Wasn’t I doing the exact same thing those stupid Christians were doing by judging them and calling them hypocrites?

My whole point is one of tolerance. Yes, there are right things and there are wrong things. Whether we all believe them or not doesn’t make them any more right or wrong. Anyone that is honest with himself, and chooses with integrity to what he believes is right will have to stand before God on that basis. No one stands or falls on the basis of your or my judgment.

We can share beliefs and go on. Each person’s honesty with the facts they have will be their guide and their judge.

Should we argue, or discuss our differences? I think only where it is profitable. If it is a vain discussion, it does nothing but separate people further. This is true in every arena of life.

So, show a little charity when it comes to other people. Be honest with things you encounter.

If you are wrong, then get right. It’s really pretty simple.

Regards.

Have you ever sat thinking about something that happened to you in the past, even years ago, and felt all the emotions of the moment all over again?

Boy, I sure have. And that remembered moment can ruin the day I’m having now! Is that not bizarre?

I can remember when I was around twelve years old, before my voice changed, and I was singing in a group. We were at camp standing around a campfire. There was this really, really cute girl in front of me. She turned around and said to me, “You have a very nice voice.” Ok, maybe I was a late bloomer for one, but I know by what I said to her that I was a complete idiot.

I responded to her, “I know,” with all the graces of a complete moron.

What on earth was I thinking?

Was I always that stupid?

What ever happened to “Thank you,” or “You’re very kind,” or even “Well, you’re very cute. What’s your name?”

For crying out loud, I could have said almost anything EXCEPT what I did say!

So, any time I want to feel absolutely ridiculous, I can just think of that moment. It’s amazing how emotions work in the first place. It’s even more amazing how they work with our memories–and that they can be just as powerful when the moment is remembered.

Power and Control come to my mind when I think about emotion. Emotion can be completely crippling. It can also drive us to the point that it even alters our personality.

Most of us have a certain level of confidence. Some more, some less. It is wired in directly with how we are feeling about ourselves at any given point. It establishes the life background of healthy pride that carries us. When it is damaged or attacked, it shakes us at the very core of our emotional stability.

I call it my stupid button. Do NOT press my stupid button.

I can be having an entirely un-eventful day, or even a great day, and have it totally changed when my stupid button is pressed.

My stupid button is wired directly to both my established level of confidence and my personal pride. When you press my stupid button, both of these core elements in my stability are attacked simultaneously. This triggers the emotion that we commonly call embarrassment.

Well, being embarrassed by itself is one thing. But FEELING embarrassed because someone made us feel stupid, consequently shaking our very foundation, is like pushing the last radioactive rod into the reactor. If something isn’t done quickly, there will be an explosion.

This is where I’ve told people things like, “Go outside and practice falling down. I’ll be out in a minute,” and I wasn’t joking. This will take a full grown man back to a teenager in a chest pushing contest of, “come on, punk. Let’s go punk.”

So, don’t make me stupid.

Why am I sharing this? Because, this isn’t just true at work. This isn’t just true playing your favorite sport. This isn’t just true in a classroom. This isn’t just true in a fight or a debate [often the point of a debate].

This is most true with those you love.

Indeed, the most hurt, the worst fights, the most damage I can remember in my marriage was a direct consequence of pressing my wife’s stupid button.

Now, we could all argue that we should have better self control. The difficulty here is our relationships are the places we have made ourselves vulnerable. The closer the relationship, the more vulnerable we are. And, a truly loving marriage even paints a perfect target in the dead center of our stupid buttons. We know it all, and we know how to press it just right.

I have ruined some of the best times with my wife in the past by pressing her stupid button. I often interact with friends by having to be saying comical things in a conversation. When I meet new people, I try even harder to make things fun with laughter and light-heartedness. So what comes out the easiest? Where do any comedian’s jokes come from? Friends, family, life, and experience are the sources of all our good stuff.

It’s rather incredible more public comedians aren’t maimed, hurt, and killed by their loved ones. Their loved ones are so often the center of their quips and routines. The same goes for preachers. I guarantee Sunday lunch has had it’s share of the wife’s scorn for words that she knows he should never have made public–and which he is very sorry he did.

So, guard your words. Practice keeping your mind a couple of phrases ahead of your mouth.

And, where your wife is concerned, don’t you dare push that stupid button. Believe me. It will ruin your day. It will ruin your night. It can ruin the next several days and nights. It’s just plain stupid.

Find some new material.

Regards.