One of the ideas they presented was the Egg. There's the shell. the yolk. the egg white. 3 different components. One Egg.

I like the illusion ergo illustration. If it has a flaw, I would say that it's bad cholesterol (I know -- I need to keep my day job).

Seriously though. Even if Google lists lots of problems with this analogy, what illustration is going to get it right anyway?

On a side note, the other day my daughter quizzed me and asked:

Daddy, What's 1 + 1 + 1?

I said: Three Silly!

She smiled and said: No It's God. God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. {She learned this at Sunday School}

This got me wondering: Wouldn't be best if we didn't explain the Trinity to kids and let them figure it out all by themselves? We should simply tell them.

The Lord your God is One. And In the Beginning was The Word. And the Word was God. And He became flesh. And His Spirit is with us.

Let kids' imaginations do the math.

I shook my pockets to show her I had no change and walked away. A few steps away, I felt guilty. Shouldn’t I have helped her? Am I not called to be the light of the world? Am I not a “leader” in my high school ministry team? What if one of the students saw me say no to this woman? What if a co-worker saw me denied her request? And most importantly - why did I assumed she didn’t need 75 cents for her bus ride?

Needless to say - I felt guilty.

Four and a half hours later, I was walking to the Metra Station — right on the corner of Washington & LaSalle st. - a teenage looking young woman was crawled up against the sidewalk. Her back curled. Her head between her knees. Her Arms holding a sign: Need Help. One Year old Son.

As I read the sign: I thought - Oh no. That’s too bad. I hope her baby is fine.

Then I thought: I should stop. I should say something. I should point her to St. Peter’s Catholic Church down the street or even Pacific Garden Mission a couple of blocks from here.

I doubted: What would I say? What I can say?

By this time, I was way passed her. I kept walking. Feeling more guilty and wondered if I should turn around?

As if God were testing, a couple of blocks away, I ran into yet another soul. An older lady. She too was asking for 75 cents for the bus. This was by the Chicago Lyric Opera building on Wacker. Without thinking, I gave her a dollar, and I said: God bless you as we parted ways.

Still feeling guilty, I spent my time on the train thinking: how am I supposed to be the light of the world? A city set on a hill? definitely not me (for this and many other reasons).

When I got home, I played tennis with the kids and right before I was going to turn in for the day - this young man approached me. He was going around the houses in our block offering magazine subscriptions. He said it was to gain points for college tuition/scholarship and a chance to win a trip. He was well spoken. Very outgoing. He had a tattoo on his arm.

Still thinking of “being the light to the world". I engaged into a 5 minute chat with him. I learned that he was home schooled. He grew up in a Christian home but doesn’t go to Church anymore. He prefers a more one-on-one spiritual relationship with Jesus. I encouraged him to find a church he liked. I asked him to come and visit ours. He asked me again about the magazine subscription. I asked how much. he said $48. I said OK.

As I was about to write him a check, I noticed the total price was now $68 for the subscription. He said the extra was a “shipping and handling” cost. I started to doubt him. Perhaps this was all a scam. The Magazine Brochure was all wrinkle. The receipt he was going to give me was also a bit suspicious. He was well spoken and very charismatic. Not your typical young man.

And then he added: If you prefer, you can give me cash.

I was like: Gosh - not again.

I said: that’s way too much money. But let me help you.

I wrote him a check for $20 bucks. As I was writing the check, I said. This is God’s money. It’s for your college fund. Go to College and find a good church.

We said our good-byes.

In Mexico we have a saying: Haz bien - sin mirar a quien. Literally, do good and don’t look onto whom.

I’m still wondering: how on earth can one be the light of the world? It is truly impossible. Perhaps even harder than: be perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect.

How do others deal with this type of things?

Photos & Content Courtesy of pbs.org and Tax Payers like Dan & Me.

			Culture Club A rush of discoveries about chimps, from tool use to what they do for fun, are painting a surprising new portrait of ape minds. running time 9:05
	watch chapter 1 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
			Copycats Bonobos in the wild and chimps in captivity have been observed copying each other—and it's a lot harder than it looks. running time 6:45
	watch chapter 2 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
			Getting Along Through experiments and observation, researchers discover that chimps can cooperate, but that teamwork comes easier for the more peace-loving bonobos. running time 10:23
	watch chapter 3 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
			Impulse Control While some apes are capable of mastering words and numbers with great difficulty, it may be that impulse control is what prevents them from cooperating more fully. running time 8:15
	watch chapter 4 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
			Mind Reading By age four most human children are accomplished mind readers, and new studies show that chimps share at least some of this talent. running time 8:15
	watch chapter 5 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low
			Shared Goals In children, a penchant for teaching appears even before language in the form of a deceptively simple gesture—pointing—a gesture that the other apes never use. running time 6:46
	watch chapter 6 in Quicktime Windows Media: hi | low

ONE: In Soccer - a Mexican can't root for the USA, and
TWO: we wouldn't have seen the "I Love Jesus" t-shirts that a few of the Brazilian players wore (including Robinho whom my son described as "The boy who sucks his thumb"). You gotta be bold for Jesus!

Photo Courtesy of fifa.com.

Photo Courtesy of daylife.com.

"I don't really like to think of it as a murder. It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester."

"I am personally opposed to shooting abortionists, but I don't want to impose my moral values on others."

In the words of the great Deepak Choprah - Gold Jerry. Gold!.

Anyway, the other day Henry blogged about the early role of Women in the Church and I really enjoyed both of his posts. I'm always afraid I'm going to run into an Elaine Pagels or Dan Brown conspiracy theorist out there so, though Henry may be pushing it (haha!!!), he ain't no conspiracy theorist...and he actually dug up some of his dusty books and looked up some Early Women in the Church references -- and the Epitaphs one is pretty cool.

Below are the links for all of you early church history lovers.

Part ONE: Early Christian Leaders who happened to be Women |

Part TWO: Epitaphs of Early Christian Leaders, who happened to be Women

p.s. Congrats to Henry & His Family.