Stuff Michael Meeks is doing
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This is my (in)activity log. You might like to visit
Collabora
Productivity a subsidiary of Collabora focusing on LibreOffice support and
services for whom I work.
Also if you have the time to read this sort of stuff you could enlighten
yourself by going to Unraveling Wittgenstein's net or if
you are feeling objectionable perhaps here.
Failing that, there are all manner of interesting things to read on
the LibreOffice Planet news
feed.
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- Up in the night with babies. Dealt with the garden
lots of mowing action; when the mortal mortgage combat has
cooled a little, need a better lawn mower. Staggered to discover
the owner of the $700k house opposite uses it only as a weekend
home / to watch the horse racing.
- Out to Tim & Julie's after lunch, great to see
them. Looked over the plans for their extension, admired their
garden, etc. Back home for H.'s second substantial success with
the potty; wow.
- Gordon
sermon on
Exodus 20 - "#@&%!*": The 3rd Commandment.
- The regrettable distinction of being the most
neglected of the commandments; not though because it's the
most frequently broken. A recent study 1 in 30 words,
from the typical American's mouth is either a profanity or
an obscenity.
- A general sense that many have, that the use of
language, profanity in particular is a matter of taste or
manners; not serious. We wonder - what is it doing listed
next to murder, adultery, theft etc. that seem so grevious
in comparison. Such a common offense, mostly inexplicable
by those that commit it, even by people that don't know his
name.
- Why make a mountain of a mole-hill, actions
speak louder than words - surely; but if words are so
unimportant, why are we so resistant to changing our habits
of vocabulary.
Matthew 12 ... a tree is recognized by its fruit ...
For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- Words are such an accurate litmus test of the
heart from which they come. The vomit from the mouth, a
definitive view of the sickness within. C.S.Lewis - Surely
what a man does when he is taken off-guard is the best
evidence for what sort of man he is ... If there are rats
in the cellar - you're more likely to see them if you go in
very suddenly, but the suddenness does not create the rats;
it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the
suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered
man, it only shows me what an ill tempered man I am.
Apparently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always
there in the cellar of my soul.
- A reciprocal relationship - not just very revealing
evidence from the mouth of what is in, but words have a corrosive
effect on ones heart.
James 3 We all stumble in many ways ... likewise the tongue
is a fire, it corrupts the whole person.. Tacitus - It is
human nature to hate those we have injured [ counter intuitive
perhaps ]. If you want people to go to war, get them to injur
the enemy first with words - cf. ramping polemic & propaganda
before a war.
- "It means nothing - it's just an expletive" - it's
offensive to God to speak his name without worship, adoration,
etc. "But everyone does it" - not even culturally true, the
American Indians had no vocabulary to curse; similarly Japanese
no curse words, though plenty of obscenities - many other
cultures similarly.
- Not simply profanity, cf. Deuteronomy, also false
prophets. Scriptures enjoin us - similarly applied to false
swearing - in a legal context: purjury, but also covenant
making & oaths: ordination or marriage vows. Tends not to
even register as a problem in the dissolution of marriage.
Or worship -
Isaiah 29: These people come near to me with
their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me. Is your behavior causing blasphemy - is our
behavior a disgrace to the God whose name you wear.
- How can we respond appropriately; clever put downs
for when other blaspheme ? No; the great danger in times like
this - is that others think they're offending us. They are not;
they're offending the God of the universe - which is infinitely
more serious.
- How to fix the problem ? a change of heart -
from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. What we need:
Ezekiel 36 - I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will
be clean ... I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in
you ... and will move you to follow all my decrees & keep
my laws.
- What to do: put off old behaviors and replace with
new; (
Eph 4) perhaps a thief - he who has been stealing - must steal
no longer - if all you do is stop stealing, you may still be a
thief between jobs so: - but, must work, doing something useful
with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those
in need. If you're giving yourself to philanthropy & hard
work, you can't be a thief. How about - wrt. words each of you
should put-off falsehood - a liar between lies ? - and speak
truthfully to his neighbour, a replacement behavior; abnormal
loving, honesty. In your anger, do not sin.
My content in this blog and associated images / data under
images/ and data/ directories are (usually)
created by me and (unless obviously labelled otherwise) are licensed under
the public domain, and/or if that doesn't float your boat a CC0
license. I encourage linking back (of course) to help people decide for
themselves, in context, in the battle for ideas, and I love fixes /
improvements / corrections by private mail.
In case it's not painfully obvious: the reflections reflected here are my
own; mine, all mine ! and don't reflect the views of Collabora, SUSE,
Novell, The Document Foundation, Spaghetti Hurlers (International),
or anyone else.
It's also important to realise that I'm not in on the Swedish Conspiracy.
Occasionally people ask for formal photos for conferences
or fun.
Michael Meeks (michael.meeks@collabora.com)
