Gordon B. Hinkley

(Post 6)

Copied from my journal, 1/27/2008

"President Hinckley [of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] died 2 hours ago at 7:00 PM in his home in Salt Lake City. I loved that man. More than that I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, and also know now, that he was and is a prophet of God. I know that the succession of the prophetic mantel will proceed in the way that the Lord has set. All will be well, though we grieve and morn for the loss of the man who has led us for the last decade."

Schmetterling said something worth reading about the passing of this prophet.

Unintentional Conversations

(Post 5)

So... I have this incredible power: I'll give you an example first and then tell you what it is.

Two years ago I was in a public restroom stall. An other fellow walks in, sits down in the stall next to me and says in a very friendly voice, "HEY!"

"Hi... " I say in a tone of voice that indicates that my right eyebrow is raised.

"So, what are you doing?"

"Um... " (This was not the kind of question I was expecting.) "I'm using the toilet. How about you?"

At this point my friendly neighborhood restroom goer changes his tone of voice dramatically from one of friendly and outgoing to one of extreme annoyance, and uses it to say, "Hey! Would you shut up please? I'm trying to talk on the phone here!"

I laughed for days. It was really therapeutic actually.

So there it is from time to time I attract a cell phone user who is engaged in a conversation to be around when I'm not aware that they are in a conversation. I then speak and receive responses in a very real feeling pseudo-conversation. I wish it would happen a little more often. Some days I just need a good laugh.

For the Love of Money

(Post 4)

For those of you interested, there is a very interesting post and subsequent thread on The Eccentric Sage about money. The question at hand is this: "Is money good, evil, or somewhere in between the two?" All in all there are some excellent points of view and one spectacular, albeit lengthy, comment (The 3rd, starting " Anonymous said...") containing a quotation of one Francisco d'Anconia defending the inherent goodness of money. It's really worth the time to read.

When the World throws you Lemons...

(Post 3)

Today I've been astounded as I think of some of the great men and women who have taken the lemons the world has chucked at them and made not only lemonade and a variety of pies, but also industrial strength cleaning products and a decent shaving cream!

That's right, today I purchased "Foamy Lemon-Lime: Gillette Comfort Glide FORMULA."

It smells nice, but other than that I really can't tell a difference -- though I haven't shaved with a manual razor for over a year. Maybe my lack of amazement comes from my lack of use.

At any rate, my face is clean and my heart is pure. Hopefully when I arrive at the pearly gates they won't look too carefully under my fingernails...

Speaking of lemons, I was given an interesting statistic today in my Programming Class. Last semester my professor took a survey of all students in his classes (300 or so). He asked a broad range of questions, and statistically analyzed what characteristics belong to students of differing final grades. In the "A" range, nestled along with "Does every assignment" and "Turning lab assignments in on time" was "Being married."

How's that for a tart taste of citrus? I can only accomplish six sevenths of the listed attributes of "A" students... I hope that doesn't reflect on my grade. =P

The Proud Schlange Icon

(Post 2)

*Drum roll*



And there it is! The Proud Shlange Icon. Wave it proudly.

Thanks to Schmetterling for showing me how to put an icon of my own design next to the URL, and thanks to Th for showing Schmetterling.

A New Beginning

(Post 1)

Ah ha! (as in Ah ha! You found my blog, and this is it's first entry, and that's really worth something... especially if you are well acquainted with A. A. Milne, the well renowned creator of the well loved Winnie The Pooh.)

So here I am, Schlange A. Taube, the well unknown creator of this blog: Wise Yet Harmless. "Why wise?" you may ask, "And when is wisdom harmful?" and better yet, "How can we know that S. A. Taube can be described by either adjective?" These are all excellent questions.

I refer you to Matthew 10:16 in the Holy Bible:

16 Behold, I send you forth as ^asheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore ^bwise as serpents, and ^charmless as doves.

And there you have it. An admonition from Christ to be both WISE and HARMLESS. I suppose that wisdom might be cleverness and carefulness, perhaps calculating. In the context of the verse and chapter wisdom might be a type of cunning which saves us from those who are out to get us. The admonition then, is to out maneuver you foes without having malicious intent or laying traps. Later in the chapter an example of true wisdom in both this and the conventional sense is given:

19 But when they deliver you up, ^atake no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall ^bspeak.

20 For it is not ye that speak, but the ^aSpirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

For the physically persecuted the challenge was to get along as best they could, and when they were delivered for judgment to say the things God placed in their hearts and to trust that He would take care of things in his own way and time. Really this was an admonition to trust the timing of God in making things right. He could take care of things immediately or in the far distant future; perhaps even after the suffering or death of the wronged. The trick was to trust that things would work out right in the end and then to give credit to God for the things He accomplished using individuals.

The idea is the same for us. Trust God. Do your best, be obedient, and when you are caught in a snare trust God. He'll take care of things.

So, I suppose what I want in my blog is this: I want to encourage peaceable wisdom. That doesn't necessarily mean I have any, I just want to encourage it.

Note, however, that this blog isn't going to be about religion or morals or tips for success - though some of those things may appear. If that's what you're looking for I suggest you go to the scriptures - the prophets know what they are talking about. This blog is really for me to babble about anything that's on my mind. It's a place to keep my soul, not the deepest or most sacred parts, but the fringes... the things that float to the conscious surface of my being. My goal in naming this soul keeper "Wise Yet Harmless" is really to keep that maxim in the forefront of my mind as I write, and as you read. Much of what you read may not really be wise at all. Some of what you read may be potentially hazardous. In the end though, I hope that what is accomplished is a drawing of both the writer and reader to searching for harmless wisdom.

Happy thinking,

-Schlange