Snowy day at work

It was a great day yesterday, the snow started falling a bit after noon. I was sitting in the Portico (the glassed in entry area to the Creation Museum) and got to watch the snow fall on the grounds. It was slow enough that I was able to snap these (and a few more).

~Matt

Slightly Chilly

Ask anyone at work, I haven't worn a coat all winter. The only times I'm outside are walking between my car and the building. When I go home I have a remote starter, and I park my car in a garage inside my apartment building, so I don't have to go outside. Today I decided that it might be a good idea to wear a coat while walking inside. I took this picture of my car's temperature gauge once I stopped in the parking lot at work. Yes, that is a negative before the single digit. I thought that friends from California (especially you Mark, ;-)) would enjoy this frigid picture. :-D

~Matt

Yet more poetry

Well this blog has become quite irregular of late with little news, but I'm in a poetic mood, so I'm going to inflict more poetry on whoever still reads this, ;-). This is an older poem but one that I re-read tonight.

~Matt

The Divine Drama
Phil 2:6-11
(c)2004 Matt Graubner

For He so emptied Himself,
grasping after only humility,
to be a servant, to be a man.

Leaving behind the divine realm,
God came down to earth,
Son of God, Son of man.

Obedient even unto death,
can we not ourselves,
even palely imitate this?

Yet was not true honour,
bestowed on the Christ,
reverence to Jesus’ name.

Above all others is He,
the risen Lord of Glory,
as will all someday admit.

With Christ may we approach,
awesome throne of God,
our ultimate part to play.

Exalting, glorifying our God,
beyond the edge of time,
in His true realm forever.

Hope

Okay, I'm not sure this is finished, but I'd be curious to hear any reaction to this. I've been working on this for several weeks now--well mostly in pieces, but many of them finally fell together during Bible Study. I wasn't originally going to incorporate the spiritual elements or make it as obviously personal as it is, but it seemed somewhat fitting. Please tell me what you think of this poem if you read it. Let me know if it seems to be just a jumbled mess, or if perhaps miraculously it seems to flow and you can make some kind of sense out of it. Thanks.

Fire and Ice

Musings on Hope

(c) 2008 Matt Graubner

Hope feeds on ephemeral dreams,

- Building castles in the clouds.

It fuels our bright tomorrows,

- Promising days of bliss.

Hope denies the bleak façade,

- Always seeing a silver lining.

It outshines the sun and the moon,

- Suppressing the surging tempest.

Though I do dream the dream,

- I steal hope truly insubstantial

Vain dreams weave the fabric of life,

- I place my hope in my own strength.

When the Lord unravels the tapestry,

- I fear the dissolution of reality.

Vanity held seemingly so tight,

- Within the circle of affection.

An insubstantial thing of dreams,

- Only bound by fetters of hope.

The seed of dreams does sprout,

- Growing into a mighty tree.

Yet fruit plucked from the branches,

- In the mouth turns to bitter ashes.

Resting upon no firm foundation,

- Joy may wax but ever yet wanes.

When my dreams founder on shoals of reality,

- May He yet guide my feet onto His way.

The Lord should always direct my steps,

- So much more than my vain imagining.

When He destroys my house of cards,

- I should ever praise His Holy name.

The Lord gives and takes away in His time,

- All glory and honor are His in time.

~Matt

Home from Colorado

This is just one of the many (over 750) pictures that I took while I was in Colorado at Twin Peaks Bible Camp. I really should have taken more, but for some reason I was busy watching campers for much of the week, ;-). This is a picture from the summit (or near the summit) of Old Man Mountain (one of the two mountains in the camp name) of the camp grounds and some of the surrounding countryside. I so so enjoy panoramic shots.

The full version of this picture is available in my Picasa panoramic album.

~Matt

I'm in Colorado

I've been trying to blog lately, but don't expect to see much from me this week. I'm no in Colorado. I'm going to be up at Twin Peaks Bible Camp for the week--I grew up going up there every summer (my parents were the camp cooks) and I haven't been back in several years. It should be a fun time (actually I know it will be) and I'm going to take plenty of pictures. I hope to keep coming back during the summer, but I don't want to take the place or all the good friends for granted, so I want to record as many memories as I can with my camera! ;-)

~Matt

Episteme Denied

Episteme Denied
Enticing, Hope beckons with outstretched arms,
- A vision only seen through a glass darkly.
Does uncertainty yet reign supreme,
- Or has self-deception claimed the crown?
Does hope vainly feed upon laughter,
- May a smile conceal nothing hidden?
May dreams of hope ever come to life,
- Or shall haste ensure the death of dreams?
What price must be paid for wisdom?
- Desperately believing beyond what is seen.
Never will Veritas reveal a certain answer,
- Uncertainty will triumph in lieu of courage.

I like to write my poems with the second line indented, but Blogger won't accept this convention (hence the hyphens).

Main Entry: episteme
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: a system of understanding or a body of ideas which give shape to the knowledge of that time
Etymology: Greek 'knowledge'

You may notice a similarity to earlier poems posted--it isn't exactly accidental.

From the Fire
Does a lie stare back,
- And whisper your name?
Does a lie softly promise,
- You will never be forgotten?
Can the truth be so painful?
- Waves of crashing agony.

Does the truth swiftly flee,
- From scrutiny and queries?
Does the truth sweetly smile,
- While saying nothing certain?
Can a lie be tolerated,
- Ages of slow uncertainty.

~Matt

Home before Midnight

Well I'm not asleep yet at 00:10, but I made it home before midnight! Tonight was a late night anyway because the Creation Museum was open until 9:00. But we're rolling out a new version of our Daily Schedule that incorporates the Museum map (starting on Sunday). I had to make sure that we had enough printed for the next several days because these new projects need to be folded by our staff before we can distribute them to guests. So, it took a while to make sure that everything was okay and to calculate the proper numbers to print. I'm off Monday and Tuesday, so I had to ensure that we'd have enough on those days, knowing that I wouldn't be around to print more.

I'm enjoying the responsibilities I have and the projects I'm working on--but sometimes it feels as though I never have enough time. Sometimes I resent the time I work on projects because I'm not on the floor doing the jobs that I really enjoy, and other times I wish I wasn't on the floor because I have so much to get done. It is a Catch-22 I guess--I wish I knew how to balance the two aspects of work life. All I know is that I don't want to go completely in one direction or the other--I love both areas: project and floor work. I especially do not want to give up working on the Museum floor with guests.

Now I must head off to bed because I need to be back at the Museum early in the morning to get the Planetarium up and running. I hope that it will be a nice and busy Saturday!

~Matt

Fireworks

Last night (i.e. Saturday) I went out with some friends to see a fireworks show (my fourth of the year, and second of the past couple weeks). It was down on the Ohio River just across the river into Indiana. It was a good show, though I deliberately didn't bring my camera, just because when I do I'm usually just trying to get good fireworks shots, and I really have plenty of those now--it was just a good time to hang out with friends and enjoy the show.

I missed seeing any fireworks on the Fourth except those few I saw on either side of the highway as I drove home from work at night. At what appeared to be the end of the show (with a nice finale) a lighted sign appeared on the barge that read "More?" Of course everybody clapped and yelled, and pretty soon the fireworks started up again. They were good, but there was no real finale to the second set, they just eventually ended.

~Matt

Stargazing

I wish I could say I took this image, but I just found it on Google. It is very nearly what I saw tonight, at least one of the things I saw. Jason Lisle, the astrophysicist on staff at Answers in Genesis had an informal stargazing session tonight. After Bible Study I headed over to the museum to join in (I'd been off today so I heard about it from a coworker).

I work the official Stargazer's Nights that the Creation Museum puts on, so I've been trained on the telescopes that the museum owns, but it is still fun to look because I'm still learning how and where to locate celestial objects. This picture is of Jupiter and the four Galelian (sp?) moons. When I looked tonight three of the moons were on one side of the planet and in line with them you could see at least two bands on the planet itself. We also looked at Saturn (you can see the rings), the galaxy M87, a globular cluster, a binary star (I don't remember the name, but it was near Cygnus--the northern cross--and one star was blue, one was gold), and several other things. It was quite fun.

It is so amazing to look up at the sky and see all that God has made. I've been in the Planetarium at the Creation Museum many, many times (I often joke that it is home because it is so familiar). If you come to the Museum you HAVE to see the show--and you can even buy a flat-screen version on DVD which is pretty awesome, even if it isn't on the domed ceiling. Anyway, at one point in the script Jason mentions when summing up all of the celestial wonders that God created that God simply said in Genesis 1:16b "He made the stars also."

~Matt

Musings on Scripture

No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength
Psalms 33:16,17

I enjoy a good story, probably more than most. Just ask anybody who has seen how many books are crammed into my apartment. When I read I oftentimes get swept up into the drama of the story that I'm reading. This is especially true when I'm reading a good fantasy or science-fiction work by one of my favourite authors. However much I enjoy these tales though, I should remember that my life isn't scripted like a novel. My life isn't an adventure tale plotted by an imaginative human author. I am not a character in an epic story. My life is actually something better. My destiny is in loving the hands of the omnipotent, immortal, omniscient, all-powerful, loving Creator of the Universe.

I may enjoy reading the story of a kingdom saved by a hero in its hour of deepest need, but the real world does not revolve based on human strength. Behind every hero in scripture is the hand of God. God upholds the entire universe, the whole creation that he spoke into existence, only continues to exist at his sufferance because he consciously sustains it. As the psalmist said above armies, strength, and horses (perhaps money, influence, and technology today) are of no purpose if you seek to thwart God. His purpose will not be diverted or thwarted, no matter how much money you have, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much you've thought things through--he is God, and we (and I) are not.

~Matt

The Golden Compass

I've written before about Philip Pullman.  He is a good author, but I do not like his message in the least.  I've seen some reports that the Golden Compass movie isn't doing as well as filmmakers had hoped.  I'm not entirely disappointed.  I do not think that any kind of organized boycott would do any good.  Just look at all the negative publicity about the Creation Museum that has just increased the number of people who know about the museum and come visit!  However, I think that even with the reported dumbing down of the anti-Christian message people are avoiding the movie.

If you want to read a good column about the movie then click here.  I followed a link from another blog and wasn't sure what the column would contain.  I liked what I read though, and liked it even more as I continued to read.  It is more coherent than an argument that I could make, and I definitely agree with what is said.

Pullman is a hardcore atheist who is trying to indoctrinate children into his world view.  Reportedly he has admitted that yes, his books are basically about "killing god."  I was thinking about seeing the movie just to see how it had played out the plot.  I read all the way through the books and while you don't have to read something to critique it, it oftentimes really helps.  But now I'm not so sure.  If it isn't doing that well I don't want to help it to do better.  *shrugs*  I'll see.  I'll probably watch it on DVD when it comes out.

~Matt

PS Yes, I know I haven't written more about Chicago, I promise that it is coming.  However, today I'm quite busy working at church, then editing video, then going to a costume birthday party and taking as many pictures as I can.  Tuesday I'm not working except for a meeting, so I should have plenty of free time before Bible Study.

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

11:30

It is currently 23:30 Eastern and I just got a phone call on my house line.  Nobody calls me on that line, because I always give out my cell number.  A tired female asked, "is Barbie there?"  I wasn't sure that she had said that, so I asked her to repeat herself, and heard the same thing again.  She did apologize when I told her she had a wrong number, but I realized now that I could have had fun.

"No, this is Ken speaking.  She divorced me last year."

"Mattel factory outlet, I'm sorry we are all out of Holiday Shopping Barbie.  Please take a number and enjoys the wonder of supply and demand."

I suppose there are more, but I'm tired now and need to sleep.  As soon as I have spare time I'll be posting much more about my Chicago trip!

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero

Trip to Chicago, pt 1

Here is the first of several blog entries from Chicago.  These were all written up before they were posted on-line, several on the bus as I rode to Chicago, then others in Chicago itself.  Enjoy:

Friday, December 7, 2007 [Pearl Harbor Day]
4th & Race St, Cincinnati, OH
Megabus, 09:00 departure

~15 chapters into "The Stand," very enjoyable book--a picture of who the survivors are is starting to emerge, and the final collapse of civilization is fast approaching.  I cannot believe that I left eh book at my sister's house.  I was reading it for just a bit and set it down before I picked up my backpack and luggage to leave the house.  With the exception of "Eyes of the Dragon," which is not typical Stephen King, this is the first King book I've read outside of the Dark Tower.  [another salt truck just drove by on Race, I saw one earlier on Fourth St. as I talked to my mom].  If the book continues to be as good as it has been I'll likely pick up more of his books in the future.

I'm sure I'll get into my new Jim Butcher book, "Captain's Fury," but even though it was the reason I went to Borders I'm no longer so excited to read it.  As I said, I'm really enjoying "The Stand."

The lights just went out as the driver started to pull away from the curb.  The overhead seat lights appear to work like those on planes, but will not activate at the moment.  Thankfully there is enough light outside to manage.

I hope I've packed warm enough.  I'll have long underwear if I need it, and my aunt said they've had snow and may be expecting more.  I have three pairs of gloves--one inner set and two different bigger ones that can go on top of the smaller pair.  I need to remember to tell Grandma that I would like another pair [she remembered and sent them home with my aunt who was just visiting her].  Oh, and I need to get her gift and mail it since I won't see her at Mom & Dad's when I go down for Christmas.

We're still in downtown--I guess when your vehicle is the size of a bus you can only make certain turns, or perhaps it always takes this long.  I avoid driving in downtown Cincinnati.

We're on North 75 and just passed Union Terminal [on the left].  I still want to take Amtrak out of there sometime, but I like the bus departure times better.  Perhaps I'll take the train to D. C. in a few years when I can afford several nights in a motel/hotel.           09:15

And now back to the present.  It is a pleasant 70.2 degrees in the house and a chilly 22.3 outside.  I'll type more later and include pictures where I have them.

~Matt

--
"A room without books is as a body without a soul." -Cicero