In this day of recession, rising prices, shrinking incomes, and disappearing investments, I stumbled onto a way to earn credits for free merchandise, just doing what I ordinarily do - search the web!
The site is http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=265933
The Swagbuck search engine seems as good as Google, and each search gives you a chance to earn credits. It should not take long to get enough credits for a gift card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or Starbucks, or a number of other retailers (these were my favorites). You can can even earn Playstation or Wii systems and games. And, if you share this site with others, you earn credits when they join.
Being the untrusting soul that I am, I set up an email account just for this to see if it produces spam. So far, No Spam to this address at all.
Like Google, they provide a tool bar to make searches easy.
Don't take my word for it -- check it out!
http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=265933
Happy web surfing.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
I purposely stay out of the loop of religious politics, but I stumbled upon an interesting news article today that started me thinking. ( http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20080503/D90E0GB80.html )
The title “Evangelicals Say Faith is Now too Political” got my attention. The gist was that a manifesto has been written, by those who do such things, calling for churches to focus on the Bible to clean up our own sins, instead of the handful of political issues (abortion, and marriage) that we have used to choose political parties and candidates.
This put into words a growing conviction that I have been wrestling with. I will admit that, in the zeal of idealism, I once marched against abortion. And I still would never choose that action for myself. But as I saw the lack of compassion in the acts of hate carried out in the guise of Christianity, I withdrew from involvement in the issue.
I know my age is mellowing my perspective, but as I am repulsed and embarrassed by my southern white ancestors treatment of blacks, disallowing them to even come into their churches, I wonder if my great grandchildren might be just as shocked by my wasteful consumerism and its contribution to the depletion and destruction of the environment. It is humbling to realize that those who follow us as Christians will judge us by the Bible, not filtered by OUR culture and time, but by their own.
May those who come behind us find us faithful. And may God, and they, have mercy to forgive our blind spots.
The title “Evangelicals Say Faith is Now too Political” got my attention. The gist was that a manifesto has been written, by those who do such things, calling for churches to focus on the Bible to clean up our own sins, instead of the handful of political issues (abortion, and marriage) that we have used to choose political parties and candidates.
This put into words a growing conviction that I have been wrestling with. I will admit that, in the zeal of idealism, I once marched against abortion. And I still would never choose that action for myself. But as I saw the lack of compassion in the acts of hate carried out in the guise of Christianity, I withdrew from involvement in the issue.
I know my age is mellowing my perspective, but as I am repulsed and embarrassed by my southern white ancestors treatment of blacks, disallowing them to even come into their churches, I wonder if my great grandchildren might be just as shocked by my wasteful consumerism and its contribution to the depletion and destruction of the environment. It is humbling to realize that those who follow us as Christians will judge us by the Bible, not filtered by OUR culture and time, but by their own.
May those who come behind us find us faithful. And may God, and they, have mercy to forgive our blind spots.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Strange Game of Tug of War
Have you ever played individual tug of war? It's a children's game where two people grab opposite ends of a rope and try to pull the whole thing over to their side of a line. Usually there is a marker such as a knot at the center of the rope to show progress toward either side.
Well, imagine such a game where the object of the game is to keep the knot as near the center as possible for as long as possible. If the rope moves too far to either side, both players lose. If you quit pulling, both players lose. It would be exhausting and demotivating, and worthy of the type of torturous contests devised on Survivor.
Would you want to play? What would your strategy be? Pull softly? Discuss strategy and work as a team? What do you do when one or both players are tired?
Believe it or not, most of us have chosen to play this game. It is called marriage. Obviously, the only strategy that works is to talk and continue working as a team, but we often get tired of that. One person on a team tends to pull harder than the other. Sometimes one or both players just lay down the rope, and may not even notice. Sometimes both people pull as hard as they can, forgetting the object of the game, and add to the exhaustion and frustration (not to mention anger!). Often one person talks, but nobody listens.
We admire teams, who have practiced the game for years, who stay alert to where the knot is, and continually make corrections. They may not even need to discuss it often, but just know their partner well enough to compensate to keep the knot in the center. I especially appreciate seeing the players who notice that the knot has moved too far to their own side and adjust. That seems to be a blind spot for most.
Some days, I wonder why I got into this game 38 years ago. I doubt my husband and I will ever master it. We have completely lost sight of the knot many times on one side or the other. A few times, we both let go of our ends of the rope. But we always have grabbed it back and gotten it more or less centered.
One of the odd things about this game is that it is addictive. When it is going well, it is highly satisfying, and seems effortless. There is a real rush from working together as a team. Then, about the time you think you have mastered it, someone falls asleep at their post or gets distracted, and things get out of balance once again.
Last night we spent an hour or so looking for the knot. We both were convinced that it was on the other one's side of the line. Sometimes finding the knot is harder than getting it back centered! But we will hang on to the rope and continue the search. It is what we do. We may discover the knot in the center where it belonged, but with both of us pulling so hard that we did not notice. How in the world do we get our team mates confused with our opponents? Just one of the strange twists of the Game.
Well, imagine such a game where the object of the game is to keep the knot as near the center as possible for as long as possible. If the rope moves too far to either side, both players lose. If you quit pulling, both players lose. It would be exhausting and demotivating, and worthy of the type of torturous contests devised on Survivor.
Would you want to play? What would your strategy be? Pull softly? Discuss strategy and work as a team? What do you do when one or both players are tired?
Believe it or not, most of us have chosen to play this game. It is called marriage. Obviously, the only strategy that works is to talk and continue working as a team, but we often get tired of that. One person on a team tends to pull harder than the other. Sometimes one or both players just lay down the rope, and may not even notice. Sometimes both people pull as hard as they can, forgetting the object of the game, and add to the exhaustion and frustration (not to mention anger!). Often one person talks, but nobody listens.
We admire teams, who have practiced the game for years, who stay alert to where the knot is, and continually make corrections. They may not even need to discuss it often, but just know their partner well enough to compensate to keep the knot in the center. I especially appreciate seeing the players who notice that the knot has moved too far to their own side and adjust. That seems to be a blind spot for most.
Some days, I wonder why I got into this game 38 years ago. I doubt my husband and I will ever master it. We have completely lost sight of the knot many times on one side or the other. A few times, we both let go of our ends of the rope. But we always have grabbed it back and gotten it more or less centered.
One of the odd things about this game is that it is addictive. When it is going well, it is highly satisfying, and seems effortless. There is a real rush from working together as a team. Then, about the time you think you have mastered it, someone falls asleep at their post or gets distracted, and things get out of balance once again.
Last night we spent an hour or so looking for the knot. We both were convinced that it was on the other one's side of the line. Sometimes finding the knot is harder than getting it back centered! But we will hang on to the rope and continue the search. It is what we do. We may discover the knot in the center where it belonged, but with both of us pulling so hard that we did not notice. How in the world do we get our team mates confused with our opponents? Just one of the strange twists of the Game.
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