Did you ever hear the old joke "Some days I wake up grumpy, some days I just let him sleep in." ? Well lately that could easily apply to me. I have been grumpy. One reason for this is that the sun is out, and has been now for three days. "What???" you may ask. "What is he thinking, how can you be grumpy with sunshine?"

Well I have lupus and that messes the whole summer up.

In case you don't know, Lupus is an auto-immune disorder in which special antibodies (which some genius named lupus antibodies) react to Ultraviolet Light B and attack the host rather than an infection. Now mind you I have the milder form of it, called Discoid Lupus. The more serious form of Lupus is called Systemic Lupus, and it attacks your internal organs. My form attacks my skin.

"Ah.." you say, "that can't be too bad." "Only the skin you say?"

Well yes, although I should like to point out that your skin is the largest organ you have. And it can develop into Systemic Lupus if not cared for.

Now what is my problem, just this. Sunlight hurts. If sunlight falls on my skin it hurts like a mild sunburn. It hurts my eyes. If I am out very long I get sick. Its not normal or natural and its ticking me off.

Imagine a hot summer day, now imagine putting on a jacket, hat and gloves. No I am not Micheal J. I just don't want to get sick.


Sigh....

So, here is the thing. Did you know that sin causes the same reaction in the presence of God? Its true. The Bible tells us that God is a Holy and just God, and that sin is abhorent to Him. And in His presence we become concious of our sin, and it disturbs us and won't let us be comfortable. In fact its a lot like Lupus. You see, if I take my medicine the Lupus is under control. Then I avoid situations that cause it to flare up and my life is a lot happier. But if the Sin isn't cared for and taken care of it can turn into a much more serious condition called Eternal Punishment.

If Jesus is your Lord and Saviour, then He cleans up the sin that you have accumulated and you feel better. And He will help you to avoid the situations in which sin flares up in your life. No more pain from the sin, and the Sonlight makes you feel better all around.

Okay so maybe I am not as grumpy as I was a while ago. Its good to remember that there are more inportant things in life, and that they can be ours for free.

See ya

I have seen a plethora of movies so far this summer and I have noted some things. Firstly its not a good idea to try to live on a budget if you want to go to the theatre. We went to see Batman Begins, and we watched it on the IMAX screen in Halifax. Wow! My head was buzzing when we came out of the theatre, my eyes took some time to come back to reality.

I have also seen the last of the Star Wars movies, and most recently the Fantastic Four. Am I wasting my time with this frivilous entertainment, well yeah a bit. But its fun. And there is learnable stuff here.

Not vast reams of deep stuff I admit, but good stuff none the less. The Star Wars movie showed what happens when pride interferes with repentance, Batman Begins showed that justice must be tempered with grace and compassion, and finally the Fantastic Four asked the question "What if we have been given these gifts for a higher purpose?"

These are the things of life. These are the things that you and I have to deal with on a daily basis. How do we back away from issues of pride to say we are sorry or that we were wrong. How do we confess our wrongs to others? When we know people have done wrong how can we judge without love, or forgive. And finally what do we do with what we have been given? What do we use our talents for? What if....what if God has given us our abilities to be used for something more that self gratification or self service?

Well my friend, the answer is this. We learn from God. He has all the answers, we just need to read the book.


See ya.