Thoughts on God, family, and work

I spent this last weekend working with my father in our backyard. You see, about three weeks ago there were a bunch of fires in Mustang, Oklahoma. My parent's backyard caught fire, but thankfully the firemen were able to save the house and our cabana. Unfortunately, our shed was not saved from the destruction.

Thankfully my parents did have the shed and contents insured and will be able to build a new one relatively soon. Actually, because my father knows so many contractors of various sorts, he is going to end up with a much nicer building that he can finally restore old cars in. I knew that he was going to do much of the removal work himself, and he isn't 25 years old any more, so I volunteered to help out (because, well, I am in fact 25 and have no excuse to not work my butt off for family). We spent almost all day Friday disassembling the shed. It was pretty fun actually. Hard work, but fun. After we were through tearing it down (got it down by lunch, thank you very much), we carefully stacked all the wood pieces in our just delivered dumpster. We knew we had a lot and needed to be conscientious about how things go in to make sure it all fit. It seems that was more work than the actually tearing it down part. As the night wore on, I found myself really enjoying this time with my dad. It's times like these that I am thankful Tina Marie and I moved to Oklahoma.

I was so tired Friday night that Tina Marie and I decided to spend the night. We got up somewhat early on Saturday morning and started helping our neighbor tear down his shed. What was interesting about his shed is that from the outside you couldn't even tell it was burned. Somehow the fire made it's way inside the shed and was burning it inside out. This was a bit more fun than tearing down our shed because it involved chain saws and a Bobcat (the tractor, not the animal). We filled our second dumpster by 2:00pm and then it was finally time for me to go home. I had earlier received my first assignment of the semester and needed to go buy The Complete Works of Plato before I could begin.

As I was sitting on my couch Saturday night my mother called and asked me a strange question. She said, "Would you rather have an 8-cup or 12-cup coffee maker?" I of course responded that the 12 would be better, still not knowing why she asked. She said thanks and then hung up the phone. You see, my wife and mother went shopping while we were working in the backyard and my parents decided to reward me with a brand new Barista Aroma Grande coffee maker from Starbucks.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited about this. You see, we received a really nice coffee maker as a wedding gift that kept causing us lots of problems. First the electronic buttons wouldn't work correctly, then it started leaking, not stuff that you want to deal with, especially if it costs as much as it did. Tina Marie had taken it back earlier in the day and got a store credit to buy other items that we needed, but we had no coffee maker! Things were going to be really bad the next couple of days. Then, out of nowhere, my parents come through and buy us a coffee maker that is nicer than the one we just returned.

So, for those of you that might shy away from lending a helping hand, just remember (but don't tell Kant!) there is always the possibility that self-satisfaction with a hard days work might not be your only reward.

After approximately two hours of watching Judge Alito’s confirmation hearing before the U.S. Congress, I have come to realize a couple of things. One, some people are just smarter than others. When watching several Senators question Judge Alito about cases ranging from the famous Rowe v. Wade to the more obscure cases like the transportation of machine guns across state lines it is quite apparent that he is almost always a step ahead of whatever question is being asked. It is amazing that any person can have so much knowledge about one subject and recall that knowledge in such a demanding way.

Another thing that I noticed is that some people are just dumber than others. Presently, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) is ‘questioning’ Judge Alito about abortion. It seems quite clear that he feels his job is to ‘serve up’ questions that Judge Alito will be able to answer without causing a stir with those that oppose his appointment. He began his ‘questioning’ with about a five minute speech about how great he thinks Judge Alito has been answering the questions and how “unfair” some of the questioners have been up to that point. After that he continued his ‘questioning’ with pauses to ask about a federal judge’s salary, a Supreme Court judge’s salary, and the ability of the President to lower a judge’s salary. How these are relevant, I do not know because he just moved on to the next question. What was really entertaining was seeing Judge Alito try to make some relevant comments after Senator Sessions’s pointless questions.

Now, I hope that Judge Alito is appointed to the Supreme Court. I have done a decent amount of research and it seems apparent that Judge Alito will try to continue the idea that a Supreme Court judge should not legislate from the bench. His/her job is to remain faithful to what the Constitution proscribes and interpret Constitution in today’s context. What I wish would happen is that some of the Republicans that share my sentiments and question Judge Alito during these proceedings would not try to bait him in their favor. It is obvious that they are trying to make Judge Alito come off in the light they want him too. These absurd ‘questions’ will most likely come back to haunt those in favor of the appointment by those not in favor. Actually, it is almost embarrassing to listen to these questions.

The have just announced a 15 minute break and will resume with Senator Feingold (D- Wisconsin). If he is opposed to the appointment (which I expect he will be) I half expect his opening statements to be nothing more than making fun of Senator Sessions. If it is indeed humorous, I will probably update this post to reflect that.

OH I FRICKEN LOVE IT!!!!! The only thing that could make this better is if I were in SoCal right now listening to all the USC fans bitchin' and moanin' on ESPN Radio AM 710.

I recently ran across a really interesting website (Denomination Selector) that would tell you what denomination (or for the A/G, 'fellowship') you should join given your beliefs about certain doctrines. Now, I have no idea who put this together, or how it is put together, but the results are pretty interesting (and funny!). I did notice that there are 24 questions and 24 denominations, so it could be the case that each question represents at least one denomination. I don't really feel like going through several different trial runs to test the results. I actually think it is more complicated than that, given the possible answers of agree, disagree, or no preference and the ability to rank each question's level of importance as high, medium, or low. Here are my results for your viewing pleasue:

1. Methodist/Wesleyan Church
   
2. Assemblies of God
   
3. Mennonite Brethren
   
4. Free Will Baptist
   
5. Evangelical Lutheran Church
   
6. Presbyterian Church USA
   
7. Seventh-Day Adventist
   
8. Southern Baptist
   
9. Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
   
10. Orthodox Quakerism
    
11. Presbyterian Church America
    
12. Reformed Baptist
    
13. Reformed Churches
    
14. Church of Christ
    
15. Episcopal/Anglican Church
    
16. International Church of Christ
    
17. United Pentecostal Church
    
18. Eastern Orthodox Church
    
19. Roman Catholic Church
    
20. Jehovah's Witness
    
21. Mormonism
    
22. Liberal Quakerism
    
23. Unitarian Universalism
    
24. Unity Church
    

I thought I'd add that I think some denominations have to show up; so please don't send me any 'concerned brother/sister' stuff about some of the results (especially towards the bottom). Click the link to take the test for yourself Denomination Selector.

Blessings.

I just finished my first semester of the Ph.D. program at OU. It's kind of hard to believe that I was just able to write that. I mean, this is the guy that had to retake English 1 and College Algebra. How sad is that? It's amazing how we begin to change as we begin to know our true selves. When I left to go to college at SAGU, I thought the only thing I wanted to do was be the pastor of a church. Getting an education was only a means to that end. Now, many years later, I have realized that education is much more than a 'right to work' and it goes further than helping us get better paying jobs.

One thing that really disappoints me about the denomination that I am affiliated with is that I don't feel they do enough to promote the idea that education is inherently good. Knowing more about what God has created, the people that he has created, and the works that those people have created gives us precious insight into aspect of God himself. I pray that we realize God has given us more than the Bible, though that is a treasure beyond comparison. He has decided to us his creation to reveal his glory. Spend a weekend on a mountainside and you'll begin to catch a glimpse of that.

When I got home last night, I was overwhelmed thinking that I've made it this far. I still have 3 more semesters of coursework and then 3 years of writing, but I'm making progress. Isn't that what we all look for in some way? Progress. Progressing toward a deeper relationship with Christ. Progressing toward meeting a spouse. Progressing toward rebuilding relationships. Progressing toward life goals and dreams. I am thankful that our Lord knows us, what we can handle, and exactly how to assist us in conquering our fears and fulfilling our dreams.

It's been awhile since I've posted, so you know things have been busy for me. School is wonderful. I love reading texts and talking them over with other graduate students. I love forming arguments and then presenting them to my professors for evaluation. I love knowing that because of my efforts now, I'll be doing the Kingdom a service in some way.

I just finished a paper that I am about to hand in to Professor Zagzebski and am really nervous about how it is received. She recently published a book entitled Divine Motivation Theory in which she gives an ethical theory based on the life of an exemplar. Well, I have tried to adopt her theory to give a new account of moral responsibility. It seems that some of the people who debate the issue of if persons have freedom or if their actions are determined, tend to hang moral responsibility on the freedom of the individual. If my account of moral responsibility works, we can hold people morally responsible for their action, even if they had other choice but to do as they did.

If this is well received by my professor, it may turn into a dissertation topic. I really think that it 'works' and would love spending the next 4 years of my life developing it and making it more systematically rigorous. What is nerve racking is that she could very well say, "It's nice but doesn't really work and here's why."

In the next few days I'll try to post my paper "Motivation-based Moral Responsibility" online so you can read it if you like. Oh yeah, I finally finished my response to the Assemblies of God position on alcohol and sent it to Thomas Trask.

Blessings.

(Well, not yet but soon.)

I just finished visiting with my family and it seems that my brother and sister-in-law are going to have a baby sooner than later. I'm really excited for them and can't wait to have a lil' one around all the time.

This is really great for TinaMarie and me as well. Now that Greg and Nesa are going to have a kid, my parents won't be breathing down our necks to have a kid. Before my brother got married, my mother was always harassing both of us to hurry up and get married. Once Greg got married, it was like they forgot I was single....which was great! Hopefully their kid will have the same affect.

I'll be praying for Nesa's health and Greg's sanity these next 9 months or so. We all would appreciate your prayers as well.

Blessings!

Talk about a buzz word in society today. Being a racist or sexist today is pretty much unexplainable. These two categories are reserved for only the most ignorant of people. Evidently, though, I fall into both of those categories; well, at least according to one person.

I know you're wondering what in the world happened to cause something like that to happen. Good news for you, I'm going to tell you. Wednesday I walked into one of the classrooms on the Philosophy Department floor to put down my cup of coffee at a seat before going to get a few things out of my office. Almost as soon as I walked in (before I could even let go of my cup) the professor that was still in there from the previous class started yelling at me for not waiting until her class was finished. Now, if she was in the middle of lecturing I could understand. If she was still talking to a few students I could understand, if was just talking to one student I could understand. But, she was not. The classroom door was open as far as it could be open and no one was in the room except her. I didn't say anything to her, didn't even make a noise other than my shoes hitting the floor (and I am pretty ninja-like, so that was minimal).

So where does the racist, sexist stuff come in? Right here. After yelling at me for rudely interrupting her class (which was not meeting mind you), she asked, "If I were a white male, would you have came in her!?" (FYI; she is a black female professor in the English department) Which in response I exclaimed, "What are you talking about!". She then said, "Well, it's just a product of your poor upbringing." And that's when I lost it. I'm not sure what all was said in the next few minutes, but I do remember (after she told me to "just leave") telling her that she doesn't get to play the race and sexist card and then just expect me to walk away. I was so furious I was shaking. The entire floor heard our er...um...'conversation' and when I did leave she went to the department chair's office and yelled at him for the next 10 minutes. I haven't seen her again since the incident, but I'm sure it'll be interesting when I do.

The whole scenario got me thinking, she accused me of being degrading to minority woman on the basis that I'm a white male. Now, I gave her no reason to think that (walking into a classroom is hardly grounds for implying someone is a sexist and a racist), she made her decision based upon my gender and my race. Now if that isn't exactly what is required to be called a sexist and a racist, I don't know what is. I made no judgment about her until after she started yelling, and my judgments from then on had nothing to do with her race or gender.

Now I don't want to trivialize the fact that many minorities do face all sorts of crap, especially in large institutions. What is unfortunate for those that do experience hardships based on race, gender, etc. is that people like her make it easy to downplay and trivialize the actual instances of racism and sexism. I know it will be difficult for many in our department to take seriously the next account of someone being treated like crap because of sex or gender. I pray that whatever is going on in this woman's life to cause her to react in such a way be removed (and/or healed) and that she can begin to see people for who they actually are, and not images she might project on them.

Well things haven't got much easier since my last post. I finished my paper on the essential nature of God's perfect will and how it would not have been better for him to create humans with the same type of will. What I didn't do, was perform successfully on my most recent logic quiz. I had a total brain freeze before class and could not remember any of the rules that allows me to do the types of things I was asked to do. I'm really frustrated to say the least.

The last few days I have begun to have a better understanding of one thing though. I am blessed with an awesome wife. TinaMarie has been such an amazing support to me. She encourages me and pushes me on when I don't feel like I'm cut out for Ph.D. work (which has been more often than not lately). I pray that I'm able to show her how much I appreciate all that she does for me and that there will come a day when it'll be all worth it.

Blessings to all.

Do you remember in the movie Spaceballs when Colonel Sanders says, "Prepare ship for Lightspeed" and Dark Helmet responds, "No, no, no! Lightspeed's too slow...We're going to have to go right to Ludicrous speed!" and then everyone gasps at that unheard of request? Well, I feel like sometimes I spend my entire life at Ludicrous speed, I guess maybe a more deserving name would be Lifespeed.

Now, don't get me wrong. Tina Marie and I didn't do much of anything while we were on our honeymoon, but that was only two weeks and over two months ago. Currently, Tina has a full time job (thank God!) and I'm very busy at school doing stuff for my Ph.D. You see, I have this calendar that has all my assignments and their due dates. I look at the next 3 months and really start to freak out. That's when I'm reminded of the old adage, "Stop worrying you freak! You don't have to do everything at once, just do one thing at a time!"

Okay, so that's not much of an adage, and it's about as old as however long it took me to type it, but you get the idea. The point is, thankfully I've been given enough time to do what I need to, a wife that wants me to succeed and helps whenever she can, and my God is faithful to give me the wisdom to do what I need to do. I guess with that in mind, Lifespeed isn't so bad afterall. So with that said, I'm signing out and signing off.

Blessings.

Well, here we are again. I've opened up another new blog. I think this will be the one I'll actual post stuff on though. I've got a MySpace (see link) and a Xanga (xanga.com/wpaulfranks) but those lost their appeal shortly after opening up. They're nice to find old friends though, but I think this will be the primary place for me post information about what is currently going on in the various facets of my life.

As we go through the journey of life together please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, or just plain old disagreements. That is what makes life so interesting, hearing from those that completely agree, those that vehemently disagree, and those that find themselves somewhere in the middle.

Blessings.