http://youtu.be/uyYw0k--qNY

A couple of weeks ago, Dean and I went on a walk. A post-thunderstorm re-con mission, if you will. We found a nice bird nest that was blown out of a tree during the storm, and we thought we'd add it to the collection on the mantle. Dean didn't feel like carrying it on the rest of our walk, so he tucked it away in a short little dogwood tree in our neighbor's yard. So, we thought we'd pick it up on the way back. But, we forgot. So everyday when I walked by, I meant to get the bird nest. But I kept forgetting, until yesterday.

I reached through the branches and started to grab the bird nest. But there were two large, blue, brown-speckled eggs in the nest. So, I left the nest. I admit-I did think about taking it anyway.

So, today I decided to take another peek. Today there was one slightly cracked egg, and one naked, breathing, pink, little unrecognizable creature. Just as I leaned in, a whizzing noise swooped over my head and up into a tree. I looked up and saw a very fiesty, angry mockingbird.

Good thing I didn't take that nest.

Who is responsible for evil?

The Problem of Evil-Deal With It

There are a lot of things that are just bothersome or annoying that I get so aggravated about. For instance, many Saturday mornings I realize that I don't have any french vanilla creamer. My chai tea is horrible without creamer. This really makes me irritated. This always happens to me on Saturday morning when I want to just relax, read, and drink my tea. So annoying.

Then, there's a slightly higher level of annoyingness that happens when I get startled by something like a spider, snake, or benign little creature like a toad. I am not afraid, I just can't stand to be startled. I live in a veritable rain forest. Every insect, spider, creature is just bigger and better; more colorful and louder, scarier and varied. It is especially and most frightening when a large, hairy, and leggy spider is just hanging out in the shower curtain, and it startles me as I startle it.

But, I have especially had my nerves scraped lately by evil.

I know I have turned around a serious corner. I wouldn't be put off at all if I knew that you just closed this action down right now and didn't want to hear any more. There are times that I just don't want to hear it, can't stand to hear it, can't bear to hear it. I have chosen to not grieve. Why do I get to enjoy peace? That doesn't seem fair, does it? But to protect myself, I have closed the door on someone else's life event in order to preserve my own little cocoon of peace.

There are Evil Things that can't be ignored forever.

So, I'm battling my own beloved logical fallacies, here. That's what I mean when I say that I'm planning to deal with The Problem of Evil. I'm planning to deal with my own mistaken reasoning concerning other people's life events. Life events that have some element of, "evil." I don't feel quite ready to take on moral absolutism, moral relativism, or moral universalism, yet. But, I do want to deal with the problem of evil.

15 minutes

Good morning

Sorry to begin this way, but this is real life in my house this morning.

These are the characters and events of the past 15 minutes of my life:

Family members present: 4

Pets present: 2

Events: 3

Event 1: Thomas bouncing around the room, banging into various people, furniture, etc. He then knocked a can of Mountain Dew on the floor -lucky for him it was his MD. He goes to get supplies to clean it up.

Event 2: Bella (standard poodle) bouncing around the room, banging into various people, furniture (jumped up on the sofa with Dean-not cool), etc. She then went over to the corner and ralphed a huge pile of her breakfast. Thomas and I go get supplies to clean it up.

Event 3: Bella bouncing around the room, banging into various people, furniture, etc. She then knocked over a glass of water full of ice on the floor. Thomas goes to get supplies to clean it up.

Event 4: (oh, yeah there were more than 3 events) Bella boucing around the room, banging into various people, furniture, etc. She then ralphed another huge pile of her breakfast. I get supplies to clean it up.

Bonus 1: Nobody yelled or cussed-except if you count Dean saying, "What the flip?"

Bonus 2: Everyone resumed their normal activities of surfing, watching tv, bouncing, and talking as if nothing had happened.

Bonus 3: Even with 2 whole family members absent, this is a pretty happenin' place.

Time for Starbucks