Starting On The Day I Got To Be Fritz

[As a former pastor of mine once said, anything without context is a pretext. And since this summation of thirty-nine of my favorite statuses and posts and just what I heard in some cases the second half of November 2016 is a little longer than usual, I ask you to bear with me.

Fritz from today's title is one of the leaders in the human rebellion against the Tripods in John Christopher's Tripods trilogy of novels (the book I'm quoting is the third, The Pool of Fire) from the late 1960s, and he's giving Will the narrator -- another major figure in the fight against the Tripods and their alien Masters -- a good dressing down after a fight between him and a teammate.



That evening, Fritz spoke to me.
We were in a tent but, as was frequently the case, the tent was leaking in several places. The rains of this land were not easily stopped by canvas. It swished down outside as he remonstrated with me. I said I was sorry, but he did not seem much impressed.
"You have been sorry before," he told me, "but you keep on doing things without thinking -- flying off the handle. We cannot afford dissension here. We must live together and work together."
"I know," I said. "I will do better." He stared at me. He was fond of me, I knew, as I of him. We had been together a long time, and shared hardships and dangers. Nevertheless, his expression was grim. He said, "As you know, I am in charge of the attack. Julius and I discussed many things before we left. He told me that if I was not sure of any man I must leave him out of the assault. He spoke of you, Will, in particular."
He liked me, but his duty came first, as it always would with Fritz. I pleaded with him for a last chance. In the end, shaking his head, he said he would -- but it really was a last chance. If any trouble occurred in which I was concerned, he would not bother to find out who was responsible. Out I would go.


On the day that "I got to be Fritz" two Tuesdays ago, I had to open Christ Lutheran Church so Matt the other Bear Scout leader could get inside for the meeting. Why he who's been with Scouts for three years now STILL didn't have a key to get in and I who'd just started this fall did is beyond me. I couldn't stay because I'd caught the flu bug going around that day and could barely keep conscious after leaving my office.


And Jeffrey wouldn't go to Scouts himself, and this wasn't the only time he'd been reluctant to go or seemed to be learning anything there other than how to get in trouble with his friends. Jeffrey's the only one of the boys that comes home with me, so Martha and I came to the decision to withdraw him from Scouts. And tonight will also be my last night with them -- I'll turn in that key in the morning.


Thank you, David]



1. On my way in to work this morning I heard a quote that ended with "God does not forgive in installments." The implication here being that God has forgiven all the sins you had, have, and ever will commit in one blow when you got saved. And as that statement roils on my head, I'm asking myself what Scriptural support there is for it.

I get the impression there is and there isn't at the same time, if that makes sense. But if you and I are asking for forgiveness every time we sin, I wonder if that means we're looking to base our salvation on our works instead of Christ's. Yeah, that sounds like heresy to me too ... I just don't want to get kicked into hell when I die on a technicality,

that there's this one sin I forgot to confess, this one item I neglected to ask God to forgive me for as I take my last breath, and this last one of a string of praises I didn't make to Him. But again I run into the wall of works, don't I? It's not what I do but what the Holy Spirit dwelling in me in a straight line from Pentecost does through me.

I wouldn't even ask for forgiveness if I didn't know I needed it, now would I?


[This was me, 021616, replying to "How much does God forgive?" on the Starting With God website - D.]





2. Did anyone read 'Kingdom Come' and think, "What's going on with Captain Marvel using the lightning as an offensive weapon? It's meant to only work on him (or whoever's saying the magic word) as a means of transformation!" Next thing you know, every writer since then has Cap zapping people by yelling Shazam. Did he ever use the lightning this way before 'KC'?






3. My boss just texted me: "Send me one of your funny jokes!"
I texted him back: "I'm busy working. I'll send one later."
"That's hilarious," he said. "Send another one!"












4. [Friend of poster], isn't this along the lines of what what you were discussing this morning? How do you determine gender once you longer accept the biological definition?
How can we protect those that are vulnerable?




5. Just remember. They can do all the sequels and reboots they want, and you can still happily watch only the originals. As long as they don't pull a Lucas and try to erase the originals from history. That's the only real crime.




6. I guess it's because the shoes are pink. Because no man could possibly wear pink shoes. It's a well known biological fact that a man in hot pink clothing will spontaneously explode.






7. The story has been memory-holed, but it lives on forever in Google cache.










8. Coconut oil treatment on my hair. Never done this before!!! My hair better be silky smooth








9. Have we gotten over our need for Nazi bad guys in comics today? Is THE RED SKULL relevant or a relic? There are enough horrors and evil in the modern world without bring back villains with ties to the Third Reich or Hitler.

Granted the Nazis make easy bad guys but they're from the 1940s! Yet with the Soviets/Chinese apparently off limits and radical terrorism a touchy subject, comics seem to rely on characters like the Red Skull as "safe" foes for their heroes to pummel. The movies and animated series try to whitewash Nazism with HYDRA and the like but the roots are the same.

Yet the Red Skull and his ilk persevere throughout the decades. Do we need them anymore? Should we have outgrown them by now?





10. It seems to have become a bit of a taboo to use Nazis in popular fiction in general, though they were staple bad guys in the very recent past. I don't attribute that to a question of relevance, so much as heightened sensitivity. 
It's a slippery slope and I can certainly see the concern: for every portrayal of Nazism and the Holocaust as a tragic and horrific era in history, we've also had a "Hogan's Heroes." It's unquestionably a subject of utmost gravity, and it's hard to appropriately reconcile that with relatively light-hearted action adventure fare, without seeming oblivious to a traumatic resonance for so many

[This was a response to the previous status. - D.]


11. Today was something! Not our best day for a test either. Why would a kid think a truck is a person?
12. today whats on my mind is this--> the letter/word -->{ I } lets look at this in a different whealm or prespective , social media has blessed us all with the means and ability of expressing ourselves over the globe on a major scale,
HOWEVER... {I} is not the best approach to do anything within a structure of actually caring about others or showing any support , dont you think that the word {we} as humans seems like a better way/phrase to describe things with?. its always been nicer to give a compliment rather than recieve one ,
using the letter {I} makes the entire conversation rather one sided dont you agree?.....realizing that its a {gimme gimme} {take take} world wouldnt it be nicer if it wasnt an {I} all the time and reffered to as {we} instead?.....just a thought ,,:]






13. So, because of this as my screen saver, I've just been informed (by a coworker, I've never met) that she refers to me as the girl with the giant Ragnar screen saver, when she talks about me to others. Lol.



14. Let's just mix the genders and have shems everywhere! woooooo! Progressiveness wins!




15. David, I love your honesty ! "Kicked into hell on technicality."
I hear people say this kind of thing often. I use to wonder the same.

My brother, please know that will not happen. God knows your heart, God prays for you when you don't have the words, God convicts us of our sins as needed.
HE LOVES US!!! Christianity is not about living in fear or worrying about your list of sins. Christianity brings freedom and joy.

Feel free to reach out to me if you wish to discuss further. [This poster's email address.]

Read
Romans 8:15
2 Timothy 1:7


[This was in response to MY comment on "How much does God forgive?" (see status 1). - D.]




16. I agree Brent. I just did a search for mug used but came up..empty..get it? Mug, empty...I crack myself up.


17. The closer I get to You the more I see who I am...










18. Freshly baked Snickerdoodles. Almost had a disaster. A lot of my spices are removed from the original containers and placed into airtight spice containers. The cinnamon in these almost was cayenne instead!! They look similar and the lable wasn't facing out! I stopped just short of a quick flick of my wrist!! Aigoo!!






19. amen brother..i am a lady and a feminist if I may say so.I feel included in gentlemen..ie god rest ye merry!!! dont change my words!!!


20. i didn't mind their relationship in the comics, but hate the people that look at it as a fun, healthy relationship to emulate. at the same time, when harley finally kicked the shit out of the joker and became a strong, empowered woman, i rolled my eyes so hard i saw the back on my skull.






21. Dear students: my answer of "I'm sorry, but I can't answer that question" during an exam is NOT an invitation for you to reword the question in hopes that I won't see through your veiled attempts at coercion.










22. If you have a meeting without donuts, did it even happen?
















23. Adult giraffes do not have strong social bonds, though they do gather in loose aggregations if they happen to be moving in the same general direction. Males establish social hierarchies through "necking", which are combat bouts where the neck is used as a weapon. Dominant males gain mating access to females, which bear the sole responsibility for raising the young.





[Wikipedia entry "giraffe" paragraph two, sentences five through seven, 022216, 1430 hrs - D.]









24. Wow...nothing like finding out another person mysteriously unfriended me on here. In a perfect world, this wouldn't bother me. But, we all know it isn't. Oh well.....








25. I usually hesitate to post such things, because of the backlash from my extended family, those he did love. He is a saint to them.






26. I am learning to use facebook










27. Pissed off at my cable company and their seeming need to call me ten times a day over a bill. About to go off on one of their reps.










28. Which one would you rather........be assassinated by.





[The choice on this one was between Marvel Comics' Black Widow and Elektra ... interpret that how you want. - D.]





29. Not the first time I've asked this…why is the child removed and not the dog??


[This was written regarding a 7-year-old recently removed from an airline due to allergies. And some people on the flight applauded! - D.]

30. dang, the realization just occurred to me...
i always assumed growing up as a skinny kid that i'd be an aunt spiker when i got old..... but seems i'm destined to be an aunt sponge...
lol, this really bums out the little 7 year old me....
...

speaking of...
i loved that book so much i never returned it to the library.... this would be a first edition.... i lost it several years ago and had no idea i had been carrying around something monetarily valuable until i looked into replacing it and it was going for thousands of dollars...
and this really bums out the adult me.

[This was written by one of my sisters re: her dog-eared library binding copy of James and The Giant Peach. - D.]

31. Rewatching Spaceballs the other day made me realize something simple I seemed to have forgotten about breaking the fourth wall. Something that really should be obvious.
It isn't funny.
Just acknowledging that you're a fictional character, or that the story makes no sense by itself isn't inherently funny.Like most anything, it's how you do it that matters.
...

Looking at the audience and saying 'who writes this crap' or 'come on, we need to give the film a happy ending' isn't funny.
Grabbing a copy of your own movie to find someone and fast forwarding it to that exact moment in time? Or the heroes escaping because their stunt doubles were captured instead of them? Now that's brilliant.
Like I said, this really should just be obvious, but I partly bring it up because of Deadpool, who zigzags on both lazy and clever fourth wall jokes regularly. I see a lot of people arguing about whether it's funny or not, and this non-revelation crept into my head.

32. I do not mean this disrespectfully at all, and I hope this is received in the manner in which it's intended:
No one posting on Facebook was a slave or a slave owner 250 years ago.
That same era saw my ancestors belittled, oppressed, treated as inferior, and locked in a system designed to keep them indebted to wealthier, more powerful people.
...

Irish & Scottish immigrants were beaten, spit upon, forced to change their names, required to assimilate, and sometimes murdered.
Who should I be angry at because of that? No one alive today was actively involved with that situation.
When I'm perceived as believing myself better than others simply by being white, isn't that racism?
Judging me by the color of my skin is exactly what others say they're fighting against - as well they should.
Honoring heritage & history is noble. We absolutely should remember where we came from. In my case, that was a poor, single-mother household with 4 kids. The most my mother ever earned in her life was $6.10 an hour, but we were fed & cared for & loved.
Shouldn't we all want better for each other? For everybody?
I love you all. We can't heal if we're spending all our energy on hurting. We can't receive blessings if our hands are so tightly fisted around what we're fighting that we cannot let it go in order to move on.
I hope you understand this comment is intended with love, respect, and no desire to minimize the suffering of slaves. The idea that people can have so little repect & empathy for the humanity of others is vile.
My hope is that, somehow, as a nation & a common people we can remember how to love.

33. Celebrating the birthday of three lil people in elementary school, in the same class, on the same day is a rare occurrence. The class is in cupcake heaven & their teacher is in cupcake... I think y'all get the picture!!!










34. I normally avoid political posts but this is hilarious and it illustrates two points: 1. Ted Cruz might have something of an image problem. 2. Opinion polls can very easily be swayed based on what the questions are and how the information is then presented to the public.










35. “I want to tell you emphatically that doubting is not sin. Some of the greatest people who ever lived, including some of the heroes of the Bible, were men and women who experienced serious doubts. And I am convinced that God respects the probing questions of His children, and that He delights when we don’t just take things on the surface, but go beyond the surface to find the answers that are available. If in our doubts we exhibit humility as we ask questions and seek real solutions, God will be glorified.” –David Jeremiah





[Turning Point With Dr. David Jeremiah, 022616, 1658 hrs]




36. Definitely not a minor character - outside the key four, he was THE, er, "major" character!


[This post was written regarding Major Gowen in the British comedy Fawlty Towers. - D.]





37. Your gut instinct is usually right. Maybe it is the Holy Spirit-don't know. I just know that my instinct is telling me some things. Praying and thinking.










38. Nothing better than your daughter saying to you; mommy I love you so so much I just want to kiss you right now. I know your sick so I'm going to take care of you.
In all my years, I know I've raised some wonderful kids.... They are my everything! I love you [poster's four kids].








39. Who cares about Diversity? Just make good stories. I'm latin and there are no Latino hero's on Trek. Khan and Checotay are played by Mexican actors but their characters were altered so that they were not Latin in the story. Who cares? I'm not crying over it. Star Trek is awesome anyways. Don't get sucked in by white guilt my star trek friends. People who really understand Star Trek are beyond this sort of thing.