The Naked Green

2004.11.30 Tuesday

Servants of Christ

Filed under: Following Christ — Mr. Green @ 8.20 am

This is a quote of a quote from Jim’s Blog:

Some without fulfilling the commandments think that they possess true faith. Others fulfill the commandments and then expect the kingdom as a reward due to them, Both are mistaken, A master is under no obligation to reward his slaves; on the other hand, those who do not serve him well are not given their freedom.
St. Mark the Ascetic, “On Those who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works: Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts” 18-19 in the Philokalia, Vol. 1, p. 126. 146

Thanks to jburnett.com for the complete text.

Edit 2004.12.01: I agree with this statement and think it is well put and to the point. I may read more of this Mark the Aescetic’s works (linked above) when I have time.

2004.11.27 Saturday

Thanks for the Holiday

Filed under: Personal — Mr. Green @ 5.57 pm

We had a great time on Thursday with family playing The Settlers of Catan (a great board game) and of course eating lots of food. I had a good talk with my cousin Andrew before taking off. We discussed some of my plans and he agreed that it is important to find someone to “disciple me” and some to disciple. I feel more and more that discipleship is my calling and though that is a broad spectrum, it’s nice to have some direction and some idea to measure against.

Yesterday I worked, finishing up “the harvest” from earlier, while Jamie worked hard at spending the money. She did lots of shopping and left before I got out of bed to get the good deals!

I met with Justin (our Associate Pastor) today to begin a re-design of the church’s website after it sat with nothing on it for a while. Nothing has been uploaded, so I won’t give a link yet. Jamie and I just got back from getting new tires and an alignment and now I should get some sleep because of the snow coming down.

2004.11.24 Wednesday

Bountiful Harvest

Filed under: Work — Mr. Green @ 5.42 pm

I guess it’s harvest time at work because yesterday three massive files came down which has made me busier than ever. I spent all day today copying one file. I guess file is not a good word for it because it conjures up images of a folder. This file took up three boxes and they wanted two copies. Hopefully I will be able to get everything done on time.

It wasn’t a bad day overall, though. I was in fairly good mood and made some good money for My Company which I’m sure they’ll enjoy.

Tomorrow I get to enjoy another bountiful harvest from the lovely fields of supermarket with my family. Jamie and I are going to my parents’ house for food, fun and festivities. Stephen is back from college for a few days and Andrew and Natalie will be paying a visit all the way from Illinois! I think I’ll miss opening Christmas presents on Thanksgiving like we did here last year.

God is good and I have a lot to be thankful for!

Edit 2004.12.01: I changed the name of my company to “My Company” in light of this article on Personal Blogs and The Workplace. I have taken care to hide the identity of “The Company” I work at, but it’s good to keep my employer anonymous for now.

2004.11.23 Tuesday

Draw Near to God

Filed under: Following Christ — Mr. Green @ 9.19 am

I want to be “near to God” and am beginning to develop quite a passion for it as I experience depression, confusion and unfulfillment. I have run across some good quotes on the web that have touched my heart:

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.

- James 4.8a (WEB)

From Chilly’s Blog:

“I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain.”
– C.S. Lewis –

From Jim’s Blog:

Abba Muthues said: ‘In proportion as a man draws near to God, it is proper that he should regard himself as a sinner, for the Prophet Isaiah, who saw the Lord, calls himself wretched and unclean.’
~Athanasius of Alexandria, Palladius, Jerome, et al., Paradise of the Fathers, B#21, Vol. II, #552, P. 124

Father, I desire to be close to you and I am drawing near to you today.

2004.11.21 Sunday

Not the Sabbath

Filed under: Personal — Mr. Green @ 12.59 pm

Today may be Sunday the “new Sabbath”, but it was not my day of rest. Thankfully yesterday was somewhat relaxing.

I received the call to plow at 3.00am this morning after about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I got off just in time (11.30am) to pick up Jamie from church and am now home. I just took a shower and got dressed up to have our pictures taken at Wal-Mart at 2.30pm. We’ll go from there to my parents so I can work on retrieving data from a corrupted hard drive (again) and Jamie will do her crafts. I have to wait there while Jamie goes to “her thing”. She just said it’s to make crafts and have dinner. I’ll probably sleep…maybe my Mom will let me crash in my old bed.

5.52pm:
Too tired to work on computer. Here is a picture of me after plowing this morning. Must to sleep….

2004.11.18 Thursday

Pi

Filed under: Obsessions — Mr. Green @ 11.39 am

3 . 1 4 1 5 9 2 6 5 3 5 8 9 7 9 3 2 3 8 4 6 2 6 4 3 3 8 3 2 7 9 5 0 2 8 8 4 1 9 7 1 6 9 3 9 9 3 7 5 1 0 5 8 2 0 9 7 4 9 4 4 5 9 2 3 0 7 8 1 6 4 0 6 2 8 6 2 0 8 9 9 8 6 2 8 0 3 4 8 2 5 3 4 2 1 1 7 0 6 7 9 8 2 1 4 8 0 8 6 5 1 3 2 8 2 3 0 6 6 4 7 0 9 3 8 4 4 6 0 9 5 5 0 5 8 2 2 3 1 7 2 5 3 5 9 4 0 8 1 2 8 4 8 1 1 1 7 4 5 0 2 8 4 1 0 2 7 0 1 9 3 8 5 2 1 1 0 5 5 5 9 6 4 4 6 2 2 9 4 8 9 5 4 9 3 0 3 8 1 9 6 4 4 2 8 8 1 0 9 7 5 6 6 5 9 3 3 4 4 6 1 2 8 4 7 5 6 4 8 2 3 3 7 8 6 7 8 3 1 6 5 2 7 1 2 0 1 9 0 9 1 4 5 6 4 8 5 6 6 9 2 3 4 6 0 3 4 8 6 1 0 4 5 4 3 2 6 6 4 8 2 1 3 3 9 3 6 0 7 2 6 0 2 4 9 1 4 1 2 7 3 7 2 4 5 8 7 0 0 6 6 0 6 3 1 5 5 8 8 1 7 4 8 8 1 5 2 0 9 2 0 9 6 2 8 2 9 2 5 4 0 9 1 7 1 5 3 6 4 3 6 7 8 9 2 5 9 0 3 6 0 0 1 1 3 3 0 5 3 0 5 4 8 8 2 0 4 6 6 5 2 1 3 8 4 1 4 6 9 5 1 9 4 1 5 1 1 6 0 9 4 3 3 0 5 7 2 7 0 3 6 5 7 5 9 5 9 1 9 5 3 0 9 2 1 8 6 1 1 7 3 8 1 9 3 2 6 1 1 7 9 3 1 0 5 1 1 8 5 4 8 0 7 4 4 6 2 3 7 9 9 6 2 7 4 9 5 6 7 3 5 1 8 8 5 7 5 2 7 2 4 8 9 1 2 2 7 9 3 8 1 8 3 0 1 1 9 4 9 1 2 9 8 3 3 6 7 3 3 6 2 4 4 0 6 5 6 6 4 3 0 8 6 0 2 1 3 9 4 9 4 6 3 9 5 2 2 4 7 3 7 1 9 0 7 0 2 1 7 9 8 6 0 9 4 3 7 0 2 7 7 0 5 3 9 2 1 7 1 7 6 2 9 3 1 7 6 7 5 2 3 8 4 6 7 4 8 1 8 4 6 7 6 6 9 4 0 5 1 3 2 0 0 0 5 6 8 1 2 7 1 4 5 2 6 3 5 6 0 8 2 7 7 8 5 7 7 1 3 4 2 7 5 7 7 8 9 6 0 9 1 7 3 6 3 7 1 7 8 7 2 1 4 6 8 4 4 0 9 0 1 2 2 4 9 5 3 4 3 0 1 4 6 5 4 9 5 8 5 3 7 1 0 5 0 7 9 2 2 7 9 6 8 9 2 5 8 9 2 3 5 4 2 0 1 9 9 5 6 1 1 2 1 2 9 0 2 1 9 6 0 8 6 4 0 3 4 4 1 8 1 5 9 8 1 3 6 2 9 7 7 4 7 7 1 3 0 9 9 6 0 5 1 8 7 0 7 2 1 1 3 4 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 3 7 2 9 7 8 0 4 9 9 5 1 0 5 9 7 3 1 7 3 2 8 1 6 0 9 6 3 1 8 5 9 5 0 2 4 4 5 9 4 5 5 3 4 6 9 0 8 3 0 2 6 4 2 5 2 2 3 0 8 2 5 3 3 4 4 6 8 5 0 3 5 2 6 1 9 3 1 1 8 8 1 7 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 3 7 8 3 8 7 5 2 8 8 6 5 8 7 5 3 3 2 0 8 3 8 1 4 2 0 6 1 7 1 7 7 6 6 9 1 4 7 3 0 3 5 9 8 2 5 3 4 9 0 4 2 8 7 5 5 4 6 8 7 3 1 1 5 9 5 6 2 8 6 3 8 8 2 3 5 3 7 8 7 5 9 3 7 5 1 9 5 7 7 8 1 8 5 7 7 8 0 5 3 2 1 7 1 2 2 6 8 0 6 6 1 3 0 0 1 9 2 7 8 7 6 6 1 1 1 9 5 9 0 9 2 1 6 4 2 0 1 9 8 9 3 8 0 9 5 2 5 7 2 0 1 0 6 5 4 8 5 8 6 3 2 7 8 8 6 5 9 3 6 1 5 3 3 8 1 8 2 7 9 6 8 2 3 0 3 0 1 9 5 2 0 3 5 3 0 1 8 5 2 9 6 8 9 9 5 7 7 3 6 2 2 5 9 9 4 1 3 8 9 1 2 4 9 7 2 1 7 7 5 2 8 3 4 7 9 1 3 1 5 1 5 5 7 4 8 5 7 2 4 2 4 5 4 1 5 0 6 9 5 9 5 0 8 2 9 5 3 3 1 1 6 8 6 1 7 2 7 8 5 5 8 8 9 0 7 5 0 9 8 3 8 1 7 5 4 6 3 7 4 6 4 9 3 9 3 1 9 2 5 5 0 6 0 4 0 0 9 2 7 7 0 1 6 7 1 1 3 9 0 0 9 8 4 8 8 2 4 0 1 2 8 5 8 3 6 1 6 0 3 5 6 3 7 0 7 6 6 0 1 0 4 7 1 0 1 8 1 9 4 2 9 5 5 5 9 6 1 9 8 9 4 6 7 6 7 8 3 7 4 4 9 4 4 8 2 5 5 3 7 9 7 7 4 7 2 6 8 4 7 1 0 4 0 4 7 5 3 4 6 4 6 2 0 8 0 4 6 6 8 4 2 5 9 0 6 9 4 9 1 2 9 3 3 1 3 6 7 7 0 2 8 9 8 9 1 5 2 1 0 4 7 5 2 1 6 2 0 5 6 9 6 6 0 2 4 0 5 8 0 3 8 1 5 0 1 9 3 5 1 1 2 5 3 3 8 2 4 3 0 0 3 5 5 8 7 6 4 0 2 4 7 4 9 6 4 7 3 2 6 3 9 1 4 1 9 9 2 7 2 6 0 4 2 6 9 9 2 2 7 9 6 7 8 2 3 5 4 7 8 1 6 3 6 0 0 9 3 4 1 7 2 1 6 4 1 2 1 9 9 2 4 5 8 6 3 1 5 0 3 0 2 8 6 1 8 2 9 7 4 5 5 5 7 0 6 7 4 9 8 3 8 5 0 5 4 9 4 5 8 8 5 8 6 9 2 6 9 9 5 6 9 0 9 2 7 2 1 0 7 9 7 5 0 9 3 0 2 9 5 5 3 2 1 1 6 5 3 4 4 9 8 7 2 0 2 7 5 5 9 6 0 2 3 6 4 8 0 6 6 5 4 9 9 1 1 9 8 8 1 8 3 4 7 9 7 7 5 3 5 6 6 3 6 9 8 0 7 4 2 6 5 4 2 5 2 7 8 6 2 5 5 1 8 1 8 4 1 7 5 7 4 6 7 2 8 9 0 9 7 7 7 7 2 7 9 3 8 0 0 0 8 1 6 4 7 0 6 0 0 1 6 1 4 5 2 4 9 1 9 2 1 7 3 2 1 7 2 1 4 7 7 2 3 5 0 1 4 1 4 4 1 9 7 3 5 6 8 5 4 8 1 6 1 3 6 1 1 5 7 3 5 2 5 5 2 1 3 3 4 7 5 7 4 1 8 4 9 4 6 8 4 3 8 5 2 3 3 2 3 9 0 7 3 9 4 1 4 3 3 3 4 5 4 7 7 6 2 4 1 6 8 6 2 5 1 8 9 8 3 5 6 9 4 8 5 5 6 2 0 9 9 2 1 9 2 2 2 1 8 4 2 7 2 5 5 0 2 5 4 2 5 6 8 8 7 6 7 1 7 9 0 4 9 4 6 0 1 6 5 3 4 6 6 8 0 4 9 8 8 6 2 7 2 3 2 7 9 1 7 8 6 0 8 5 7 8 4 3 8 3 8 2 7 9 6 7 9 7

The number Pi has interested me since I watched Pi, the movie which is a fascinating movie directed by Darren Arronofsky about a brilliant tortured mathematician. I like the movie on several levels, but check it out yourself and see what you think.

What’s the big deal about Pi? We know that A=Pi*R^2 which calculates the area of a circle, but what is Pi and what makes it so fascinating? Simply put, Pi is an irrational number that is the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. The fascinating thing about it is that it never ends or repeats (that we know of) and is a constant. Mathematicians have been interested in these characteristics of Pi throughout history. Pi has been calculated to 1,241,100,000,000 decimal places (that’s 1.24 trillion) by a truly nutty professor.

A good resource on Pi, The Pi Pages has the following quote from the book Pi: A Source Book by: L. Berggren, J. Borwein and P. Borwein:

“The story of pi reflects the most seminal, the most serious and sometimes the silliest aspects of mathematics. A surprising amount of the most important mathematics and a significant number of the most important mathematicians have contributed to its unfolding — directly or otherwise.

Pi is one of the few concepts in mathematics whose mention evokes a response of recognition and interest in those not concerned professionally with the subject. It has been a part of human culture and the educated imagination for more than twenty five hundred years.”

Pi has inspired some interesting and sometimes humorous websites on the internet. At the Pi Search Page, you can search for any number within the first 100 million digits of Pi. There is actually a sourceforge project dedicated to creating programs for calculating Pi. Dr. Math has some great answers to kids’ Pi questions and The Pi Pages are a great place to start for more Pi madness. For people like my brother, there is this page for calculating Pi with your pencil.

2004.11.17 Wednesday

Dreams of Insider Trading

Filed under: Personal — Mr. Green @ 8.59 am

I had a dream(s) that seemed to be about money….

I gave Joe (my boss) my passport and four or five thousand dollars to get me a new one. He said he would have it to me the next day with the money inside which I wasn’t comfortable with, but agreed to do that instead of coming back at 3.00am. [Why did I give him so much money in the first place?] He was doing it legally, if you’re wondering, but in a completely different manner than usual.

I was in some back room with a large machine when some “higher up” in the company came in and pushed the down arrow below one of the small green displays. He was buying puts on some company. He started talking about buying Gateway stock [GTW ] and I went over to a computer to sign up for an online stock trading company and buy some. I was asking the guy and some other guy about insider trading which they didn’t know much about (I don’t either). I asked, “Where do you draw the line?” to which the 2nd guy just shrugged. Later there was a bunch of hullabaloo about this inside trading. Some lady got got fired and was trying to get a job in the finance department at the ministry my dad works. We were walking down the road and I started walking down a long driveway to my massive house inviting the execs to come on in if they wanted. a few followed and with some dreamy gender confusion over the man/woman who was fired, I suspect it was the first guy.

Later I got my passport back with $2000.00 in it, lots of notes and a small tape with all the phone conversations my boss had. There was a detailed breakout of all the taxes and fees taken out of my original wad and a note saying I would receive the rest in three months. Sounds like my pension (not so big of course).

[I also saw many large 20 cent coins toward the end of my dream]

This dream brings up interesting questions like if God tells you to buy stock, is that insider trading? If I had bought Gateway stock in my dream not knowing that the man knew inside information, would I be liable? I mean, I didn’t even know where I was let alone what I was doing. I guess it was good I was too distracted to sign up for an online trading account. And how in the world did I end up with such a big house and not even think it to be odd until now?

My prediction: Gateway (GTW) is at $5.85 a share right now. I predict, based on my dream, that it will go up and some other stock will fall. So, hurry up, you may still have time to buy! Don’t worry, I think that some guy in some company in some dream of someone like me (knowing as much as I do about all this) is a hazy enough trail for you to avoid being charged with the ominous “insider trading”.

Disclaimer: I know almost nothing about stocks or Gateway as a company. I don’t recommend that you follow my advice as I probably won’t myself. I am not responsible for any stock trading you may or may not do or any damages as a result of such trading whether they be monetary, emotional, physical or any other type of damages.

2004.11.15 Monday

Mr. Green’s Blogger

Filed under: Blog Publishing — Mr. Green @ 3.23 pm

I was going to write a comment on Jennifer’s blog and got roped into signing up for my own on blogger.com. Well…not roped, but you get the picture. I don’t think I’ll use it much (if at all), but I figured it would help get more traffic here if I link to myself. Is it unethical to SPAM yourself…on your own blog?

Here’s a phone call from Jamie and I need to get back to working.

Here is the link to Mr. Green’s Blogger: https://321green.blogspot.com

Work a Tired Man

Filed under: Work — Mr. Green @ 3.10 pm

I’m feeling tired and all wacky, like I’ve been using crystal meth. This of course is due to the snow plowing I did on Sunday morning, not drugs. I was called at 1.00am and didn’t get to bed until 5.00pm not wanting to go to bed too early. At least I got a couple hours of sleep before getting called this time. It’s not so much that I didn’t get enough sleep, just that my schedule is all wacky. Now I don’t feel so good…maybe it’s something else too.

I took some pictures at Intel (where we plow) so maybe I’ll put them in our Gallery.

Of course, wouldn’t you know it…. Now they have me working hard all day here. I’ve been working almost non stop all day (unusual and annoying) and I have a stack of nine orders! I was going to wait until i had free time to blog, but i don’t think that’s going to happen today. Needless to say, I had better stop writing and start copying. blah. :(

2004.11.12 Friday

Portentous Goose

Filed under: Personal — Mr. Green @ 12.33 pm

As I was going out to start the car this morning I heard a goose that was being quite vocal. Looking up, I noticed that it was a lone goose flying North. There is probably a good, normal, scientific reason for this, but it got me thinking: What if it’s a portent?

The problem is, I don’t know what sort of portent or sign it would be. Am I being warned against being rebellious? Me, just “swimming upstream”, not in any purposeful manner, but just a desire to be different to the point of stupidity. This rebellious goose will probably not fair well on its northward journey by itself.

On the other hand, maybe it’s a sign to go against the flow, making dynamic decisions that are against the grain. Trusting that God will be the protector and provider and not fearing the cold loneliness. Standing against tradition saying, “Wait! I’m not going to fly South any longer just because we have always done it!”

Possibly, it’s a sign that we should move North. That we need not just stay here because it’s warm and cozy. It just might be that God is telling us it is time to move, even though we will go alone. Perhaps…and perhaps not.

Whatever it might be, the bird made an impression on me. I guess I’ll have to ponder it some more. It might not be anything, but I can use it as an opportunity to turn to Christ and seek His direction. I thank God for that goose.

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