The yearning to know what cannot be known, to comprehend the incomprehensible, to touch and taste the unapproachable, arises from the image of God in the nature of man. Deep calleth unto deep, and though polluted and landlocked by the mighty disaster theologians call the Fall, the soul senses its origin and longs to return to its source.

— A.W. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy, p. 9

I have had my bluetooth headset for about five months now. While I still rag on people who wear them all of the time, I have to admit that I love this technology. My only other complaint so far centers on the Samsung headset that I bought to go with my same brand A900 phone. The ear loop on the WEP150 is small, making it uncomfortable to wear for extended periods.

Last week when we were in the hospital having a baby, I ended up losing the ear loop for the headset. It often slides off when I place the headset in a pants pocket. I suspect that it fell out on the floor while I was digging for change for the vending machines. I thought about rigging it with a pipe cleaner, but those are a little too flexible. Instead, I took a paper clip and bent it with some needle-nosed pliers. Not only does it work, but it is also more comfy now!

I will whatsoever Thou willest; I will because Thou willest; I will in that manner Thou willest; I will as long as Thou willest — Amen.

— Treasury of Devotion, 1869

Researchers at the University of Illinios at Urbana-Champaign and Virginia Commonwealth University say that Americans weigh on average about twenty-four pounds more than they did in 1960. The economic and environmental impacts of increased fuel consumption are the focus of the study. “Gas guzzling” SUV’s have been in the public spotlight since fuel prices rose sharply in 2005. Amercia’s “obesity crisis” also often leads the nightly news. Some will surely jump on the new study as reason for more legislation, but I simply find it to be intriguing on a cause and effect level.

If I had the time and ability, I would do a study to see if the rise in popularity of the SUV coincides with the expanding of America’s waistlines. In other words, are big SUV’s popular not for their so called cargo capacity, but rather for the room up front? While I know several people who have bought an SUV over a sedan for this very reason, it is not the type of argument that one likes to advertise. As an exceptionally tall person, I am sympathetic to those who are annoyed by the pressure to drive “highly fuel-efficient” (read: tiny) cars.

It may be observed, that the more excellent any thing is, the more will be the counterfeits of it. Thus there are many more counterfeits of silver and gold, than of iron and copper: there are many false diamonds and rubies, but who goes about to counterfeit common stones? Though the more excellent things are, the more difficult it is to make any thing like them, in their essential nature and internal virtue; yet the more manifold will the counterfeits be, and the more will art and subtlety be exercised and displayed, in an exact imitation of the outward appearance Thus there is the greatest danger of being cheated in buying medicines that are most excellent and sovereign, though it be most difficult to imitate them, with any thing of the like value and virtue, and their counterfeits are good for nothing when we have them. So it is with christian virtues and graces; the subtlety of Satan, and men’s deceitful hearts, are wont chiefly to be exercised in counterfeiting those that are in highest repute. So there are perhaps no graces that have more counterfeits than love and humility; these being virtues wherein the beauty of a true Christian especially appears.

— Jonathan Edwards, A TREATISE CONCERNING RELIGIOUS AFFECTIONS, IN THREE PARTS. Part II. Showing what are no certain signs that religious affections are truly gracious, or that they are not. SECTION IV. It is no evidence that religious affections are saving, or that they are otherwise, that there is an appearance of love in them.