thetinymite.com » Writings

The Office Space principal

reese — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 05:39:32 +0000

It hits every semester like a brick wall. Apathy. Apathy for all things academic. Usually it takes a round of tests to do this. But this semester is different. Even though I have no desire to do any schoolwork already, it has become easier to will myself to work. Why? Because I am convinced that it matters in the long run… that someday I’ll actually use this information. How I remember the days of Physics 208, Thermo, wait EVERY SINGLE class with an ENGR label!! Goodness, looking back I don’t understand what the point of any one of those classes was… We industrial engineers are imaginary engineer, not real ones!!

Anyway, it’s little surprise that this points to a larger principal. Let’s call it the Office Space principal. Work must have perceived value; otherwise, people generally can’t do it without going insane over a stapler or plotting to slowly steal millions of Innitech’s fortune. It’s part of the design. Work is good, very good, but if it has no value, just work for work’s sake, it’s simply inhumane. But let’s face it… there’s awful, boring, tedious, deskwork to be done. Someone has to do it… and it’s that kind of work I loathe. Is it because I lack the humility or because work must have a perceived value? Both. Still, I don’t want to really live in a 40+ hour a week world where I don’t think that my work has some valuable. Thankfully, I have the option, which is why these spells of laziness and apathy are easy to cure.

Awkward Silence

reese — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 05:16:34 +0000

I’ll have to admit these new iPods are really quite nifty. If I didn’t have this stubbornness about refusing doing the same thing everyone else does and didn’t own Dell’s knockoff iPod, then I’d be trying to buy one, too. But with the increasing availability of music, there is certainly a tragic loss of silence. I hear the question now, “What’s the point? Silence is awkward”. Well, to the American, maybe. Ask a Chinese a serious question, and he would stop to think about it, resulting in a long conversation-less pause. It’s difficult enough to talk to say hi to a friend you see walking on campus when he’s deaf to your existence because of an MP3 player. Perhaps, I’m only a bitter old man… most likely, but the problem, to me, is much larger than a mere downgrade in conversation.

Gone are the days when we spend time in quiet reflection. Gone are the days when we stop, and ask ourselves what we’re doing, where we’re going, and how to get there. How do you know yourself if there’s never periods of extended silence? And what of knowing God?

I guess this brings me to the main point: I LOVE our front porch. Even when the weather is not so pleasant, it’s shaded from the elements. Quite nice during this past week of rain and even more so when summer approaches. In general, it is so peaceful. Even with the occasional car motoring down the street, it is not comparable to the noise of the fans, refrigerator, and CPUs buzzing. It’s in silent moments like these that peace has a way of creeping in. It’s a small whispering voice of peace that I would not trade for any new Top 10 single, even if it’s newest acoustic worship smash mega-hit.

But maybe I’m just bitter for not owning an iPod…

Have Mercy!

reese — Sun, 18 Sep 2005 20:48:29 +0000

One of the hardest parts of Jesus’ life for me to grasp is His perfect, endless, tender mercy for all people. In the Gospel of Matthew, this theme of mercy is very prevalent. Two times Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6,

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,
And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (see Mt 9:13 and 12:7)

Many people seeking Jesus’ healing hand, came shouting, “Have mercy Son of David” (see Mt 9:27; 15:22; 20:30, 31). Such repetition must be significant. Showing mercy is not what my heart naturally leans against. It would rather disengage because to truly show mercy might mean listening intently or even worse bearing another’s burdens. Showing mercy is exhausting, and I simply can’t handle more than 15 minutes of it. Showing mercy reveals how much my heart does not forgive, how disinterested and unmoved I am over the eternal consequences of sin. To show true mercy reveals the need for God’s tender heart to replace my own — maybe more than another other affection. It is in showing compassion, forgiving one another that I must die. Places I avoid, but for Holy Spirit to quicken sanctification, then it is in places of brokenness that I shall dwell. Oh God, please transform me into an Ephesians 4:32 man who is “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” May this heart not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, but encourage my brothers and sisters daily (Heb 3:13). Teach me O God, Your heavenly mercies; remind me of your tenderness and compassion on such a fool that it would stir in me a longing to proclaim Your great kindness to all people.