Here is a passage from Mike Riddell’s book, Godzone that has struck a chord with me.

Acceptance

Those who have discovered for themselves the way in which God loves them, find accepting others an natural as nightfall. God has overlooked so much in their lives that the least they can do is return the favour.
Such refugees from condemnation are not inquisitors or referees. They take people as they come, looking for truth, the spark of God within every person. Faults and failings are ignored as distortions, the roughsurface of an uncut diamond. Zone-dwellers tend to attract people who are the outcasts of society; Jesus was known as the friend of bludgers, deadbeats, crooks and no-hopers.

He was always prepared to bend the rules where people were concerned.This was unpopular with the Divine Law Enforcement Agency, who operate the moralistic strings which keep the puppets dancing. Here is a fable at their expense.

God walked into heaven and discovered that everyone was there. This didn’t seem fair, as some of them had done terrible things in life. So everyone was summoned before God, where an angel read the ten commandments. When the first commandment was read, God said, “Everyone who has broken the commandment will have to leave.” The same happened with each of the other commandments. By the time the angel had finished reading the seventh, there was hardly anyone left. God looked up and saw a small group of grim self-righteous ascetics looking very smug.
For a few minutes God considered the prospect of eternity with them, and then shouted out, “All right everyone, come back!” The religious group were furious, saying “We have wasted our lives.”

Acceptance grows from the deliberate short-sightedness of love. It recognises that one word of encouragement to a fragile person is worth more than a thousand lectures on their faults. Acceptance provides the air which makes it possible for a strangled life to breathe and grow again.

“I was a neurotic for years. Anxious, depressed, selfish. And everyone kept telling me to change. I resented them, and agreed with them, and wanted to change; but simply couldn’t, no matter how I tried. What hurt the most was that, like the others, my closest friend kept urging me to change. So I felt powerless and trapped. One day she said to me, “Don’t change. I love you as you are.” I relaxed. I came alive. And suddenly, I changed!”

The profound gratitude of Godzoners is closely linked to their heart-felt acceptance. They have been forgiven so much that they hardly even see the failings of others. Like beggars at a banquet, the only thing which would make them happier is to have their mates tuck in alongside them.

US Census
The US Census bureau says that Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in the United States. With 284.4 million people, 37 million are Hispanic.

Whites - 70%

Hispanics - 13%

Blacks - 12.7%

Asians - 4%

The overall population rose 3.4% from 281.4 million in April 2000, according to the bureau.

Mexico
This latest earthquake is estimated to be between 7.6 and 7.8 in magnitude. 21 people are dead. The shallow quake’s epicentre was the western state of Colima. Rescue workers continue to search several towns, and the intense quake was felt as far away as Mexico City. The last earthquake to hit that region in 1995 killed 49 people.

West Virginia
Three miners are dead, and three injured after a blast in an air shaft in a mine in Nauvoo Ridge in Marshall County, in the northern tip of the state.

Hungarian Training Base
A US Air Base in Hungary will receive it’s first wave of Iraqi’s who will be training for ‘civilian/military’ liason roles in the upcoming war. 3 thousand will be going through training over the next few months.

Bloggies
Ok. Time to vote for the finalists in this years Bloggies. You have until January 31st.

Wireless Whoops
Wireless may be the wave of the future, but I don’t think we need this much of a wave. A Norwegian man found out his work was showing up on a neighbour’s computer 100 metres away. When he phoned HP to complain they said:

“not to write any sensitive information.”

That was helpful. So HP said this:

HP Norway has since apologised for dispensing that pearl of wisdom. But it seems that it is dealing with this security flaw by, yes, you already guessed, by deciding it will no “longer guarantee their cordless keyboards for security.”

Fatblueman links to an article on Canada’ aborginal population which is experiencing a sharp increase in HIV consistent with the increase in sub-Saharan Africa.

In the January 7 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the researchers report that among indigenous men and women an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV was associated with frequent cocaine injections and frequent speedball injections–the latter being a combination of cocaine and heroin.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to hear John Janzen of fatblueman sing, head
here for some audio clips.

Radical. Mark Morris of The Gospel According to Mark has a comments section.

Before you start shooting your mouth off, (or rather, type your fingers to the bone) read this post at Who will go for us thoughtfully, ok?