Beginning May 01, 2007

The Road to Nowhere

Well, Heidi and I are back from our get-away-from-it-all trip to Greer, AZ. We had a great time relaxing, eating out, relaxing, watching movies, relaxing, horseback riding, and relaxing.

We stayed at an awesome bed & breakfast called The Red Setter Inn. Here are some photos of the place we stayed. If you ever need to spend some time in the middle of nowhere, this is the place to be.


The Red Setter Lodge


The view from right outside the door to our private deck.


Heidi relaxing on the rocking chair.


The Little Colorado River - just steps from our room.

A Vacation from My Problems!

Heidi and I are going away for a long weekend together.

We are headed to the small town of Greer in the White Mountains in northeastern Arizona. We have never been there, but by all accounts it is a very remote and beautiful area. One of the key amenities at the place where staying is that our room has no phone and no television. Talk about getting away from it all! We can't wait.

We plan on doing a lot of sleeping in, reading, and coffee-drinking. We may even throw in some hiking and/or horseback riding. I'm sure I'll do a little bit of blogging while I'm up there because writing is a creative and relaxing outlet for me. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures to post.

Disclaimer: The title of this post is not intended to be a gripe about my job or my life in general. Its actually a line from one of my favorite movies, "What About Bob".

Here are a few more of my favorite lines:

"Mmmmm Faye? Is this corn hand-shucked?"

"Check it out, I'm in really bad shape. I'm doing the work. I'm baby-steppin. I'm not a slacker!"

"There are really only three names: Dr. Albert Schwitzer, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, probably, and Leo Marvin."

"I get it! If I don't untie myself inside -- the emotional knots, I'm going to explode!"

Not sure why I went off on a "What About Bob" tangent there. Sorry about that. Well, we're off to Lake Winnipesaukee. We'll send you a postcard.

Hierarchy of Sins

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Matthew 5:27 & 28

Is all sin equally bad in God's eyes?

I know that God cannot abide sin no matter how small, but is it reasonable to think that he looks at all sin in the same light? Many people read the verse above and would say that he would see them as equal.

Personally, I have a hard time believing that God would not distinguish between levels of sin. Again, I understand that all sin separates us from God, but is it reasonable to think that God looks at the sin of a child molester as equal to that of someone who deals with selfish pride? Does God's heart grieve equally when he sees a brutal murder and a guy cheating on his taxes?

I think the verse above is not intended to insinuate that physical adultery and lust are one and the same. I believe that Jesus is simply trying to get us to think about the origins of sin's footholds. We don't commit sins by random chance. Sin first plants its roots in our hearts and then grows itself into full-blown active sin.

A person isn't dedicated to a church one day and then cursing the pastor and leaving in a huff the next -- bitterness has to steep in that heart for a while before the sin takes action. A man doesn't just have an affair all of a sudden -- he allows his mind to wander in forbidden fantasies for a while before the sin takes action. It seems to me that all sin is committed only after first being committed in the heart.

Perhaps Jesus was merely trying to give us insight into the origin of our sins rather than to say that both are 100% equal in God's eyes. If we are able to stifle the "sins of the heart" before they become "sins of the flesh", I think that we are making steps toward the holiness that Christ calls us to.

More thoughts on this topic to come...