Spicy Magnolia

Moved in Compassion

While reading Mark 8 this morning, I was struck by the part where Jesus was followed by a large crowd who had nothing to eat, and He was so moved in compassion for the people that He couldn’t bear the thought of sending them away hungry, for they’d faint. In the Message version, it says Jesus’ heart was broken over seeing the hungry. His feelings toward those in need moved Him to action, the action of taking seven loaves of bread and a few fish to feed four thousand people until they were satisfied and full. Running undoubtedly to the forefront of my mind while reading this passage: the nation of Haiti.

I see pictures of the devastation, but I cannot grasp the effects of what one British geophysicist described as matching that of several nuclear bombs.

While I woke up to fresh, running water; electricity; a standing home; and a family for whom I could account, there were thousands upon thousands in Haiti who are experiencing just the opposite.

I haven’t known what action I can take to help or even how to pray. But throughout the past 24 hours, various opportunities have presented themselves that I thought I’d pass along to you in case you weren’t aware.

Two wonderful organizations that have set up disaster relief funds are Compassion and World Relief, both of which are monitored and rated by CharityNavigator.org. It also takes a quick moment to leave a comment on someone’s blog. Both Kelly and The Pioneer Woman are giving $1 and $.10 respectively for each comment you leave on their blogs. The Pioneer Woman is also doing a special giveaway of charitable donations through your comments. Just click on the links I provided you. And yes, pray. Pray.

I do not understand why these disasters happen and cannot fathom the magnitude of grief and despair that hovers over that nation right now. But there is One who will supply all of the needs of the people of Haiti. The same One who in the passage of Mark was broken hearted, moved to compassion over those He saw in need. And He provided. Tangibly. Until they were full.

In that same manner, may we give generously to those in need, and in His great mercy and compassion, may Jesus comfort all of the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti; nourish their souls with His strength; bring them peace; and in the midst of their anguish, shine rays of hope.

Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 Matthew 25:34-36

Historic Events

As we all now know, Barack Obama has been elected the 44th President of the United States.  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all that has taken place over the last 16 hours and my varying emotions surrounding this historic election.  I'll admit, the spectrum of what I feel about it all is quite confusing, and it might take some time for me to figure it all out, if I can.  On one hand there are aspects of the election that are unsettling to me and on the other hand, it's quite exciting to be a part of an historic, remarkable event such as electing the first African American president.  On top of all of that, today is just an "off" day for me; I feel very blah.  Is it possible to have baby blues before the baby is here? 

Because of all that, I know I'm not going to be able to write a post that is interesting, worth reading, or that makes sense.  So I'm going to direct you to two posts that I think are worth reading today <grin>.  The first is The LPM Blog.  Beth Moore wrote a great, Spirit-directed post this morning that was very appropriate to wake up to.  Entitled "A United House", it not only was encouraging but the Lord used it to bring to my attention some wrong attitudes I've had toward fellow believers in Christ who think differently than I do.  Click here to read it. 

The other blog post I hope you take a moment to read is written by a friend of ours who recently moved to Nairobi, Kenya for overseas diplomatic work.  He reports of Kenya's enthusiastic response to the election turnout.  It intrigued me greatly, and reading some of the things he wrote about spark my interest and trigger the side of my emotions that feel some excitement and hope.  Click here to read the post "Obamaphoria in Kenya". 

As a random thought, I'm sure curious to know what is taking place in the heavenlies right now!  I loved how Amanda finished off her blog post today with the following statements:  What does He require of little ole me today and everyday? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God. (Micah 6:8)

Presumption

My own political views aside, if this isn't a classic example of presumption, I don't know what is. 

‘Obama Wins!,’ newspaper declares

John King
CNN Chief National Correspondent

For The New Mexico Sun News it is either a major scoop or “Dewey Beats Truman” déjà vu 60 years later.

“Obama Wins!” is the headline of the edition on newsstands now, complete with “special collector’s edition” in red bold typeface.

The Sun News is a bi-monthly newspaper and its Oct 26-Nov 8 issue had to hit the streets, and the newsstands, before the election. So the editors decided to make a leap of faith and declare Democrat Barack Obama the winner.

In an article explaining their choice, the editors unabashedly wrote, “When it comes to calling the winner of a presidential election, everyone wants to be first. The New Mexico Sun News hereby claims that achievement.”

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Definitions of the word presume, according to Dictionary.com:

1. to take for granted, assume or suppose
2. to assume in the absence of proof to the contrary
3. to undertake with unwarrantable boldness
4. to undertake without right or permission
5. to take something for granted, to suppose

Anything about this a smart decision made by the NM Sun News?  Seems more to me like some over-eager, rash editors grasping at a fleeting moment of a potential claim to fame.

Wordle in the Political Arena

A few days ago, I posted an entry called I JUST... that was about Wordle, a website where you can submit text and it creates a word cloud that hones in on the most frequently used words throughout the text and highlights those used more prominently.  So today, when I came across a Pew Research Center article called The Candidates:  In One Word, it caught my eye.  The Center surveyed 2,509 registered voters and asked them to provide one word that best describes their impression of the presidential and vice presidential candidates.  The words were then tallied to find those most commonly associated with the respective candidate.  Finally, to illustrate the registered voters' impressions of John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, the words were submitted into Wordle to generate word clouds that showed the frequency and prominence of the descriptions.  Click here to see the illustrations and the article.  It is very fascinating and eye-opening.

For those who are interested in using Wordle to gain further insight into the current political campaign, one idea is to cut and paste the text of any given speech from any of the candidates and submit it into Wordle's Create Page and see what the word cloud generates based upon the candidate's rhetoric, which issue he/she focused on the most, etc... It could very easily give a well-rounded summary of the content of the speech.  It might just be me, but I'd rather analyze the speech myself using tools like Wordle rather than listen to a bunch of biased news reporters and analysts comment on the candidates' orations.  What tools or resources are you using to gain insight into the campaign?