This is too good not to pass along: a skewering of the typical TV news segment. Two minutes of brilliance!

Yesterday I traveled with five coworkers from Cedar Rapids, IA to Wichita, KS, to participate in our quarterly update meeting with the FAA.

Normally, commercial travel to Wichita from CR means taking a flight connecting through either Chicago O’Hare or Dallas-Fort Worth. For a Wednesday morning meeting you’d need to leave CR early afternoon on Tuesday, spend hours in airports, 3 – 4 hours actually flying, spend the night overnight in Wichita, then reverse the procedure on Wednesday afternoon to fly home, possibly making it home in early evening… assuming the weather is decent and all the flight connections happen.

To counter this massive hassle and resulting lack of productivity for several engineers, enter this fine little piece of hardware: the company Hawker 800 XP.

It’s fitted out nicely on the inside, too, similar to this:

Being able to fly on our company jet made our itinerary for the trip to Wichita run something like this:

• 0715: Arrive at company facility at CR airport
• 0716: Announce myself and get name checked off on the manifest
• 0725: Walk out onto the tarmac and board the plane
• 0730: One of the pilots points out the emergency exits to me, the first-timer
• 0735: We take off. Once we climb out, we cruise at 36,000 feet and nearly 600 MPH
• 0840: Land in Wichita. Climb off the plane and walk across the street to the FAA office.
• 0900 – 1230: Meet with the FAA
• 1230: Walk back across the street to the airport
• 1245: Board the aircraft and take off again
• 1300: Eat a box lunch after we’re back up at 36,000 feet
• 1405: Land back in CR
• 1415: Get off the plane after being towed into the hangar
• 1435: Arrive back home

It’s still stunning to me – we went down to Wichita, had a half-day meeting, came home, and didn’t even use the full workday.

I am now spoiled to commercial air travel forever.

Growing up in evangelical churches, the most I knew about the liturgical year was the weird dates that were printed in the bulletin at my grandparents’ Lutheran church: “Third Sunday of Pentecost” and things like that. I’ve learned more as time has gone along, but when the opportunity arose to review this book, I figured it was a good chance to learn some more.

The Liturgical Year comes from an unabashedly Roman Catholic perspective. Written by a Catholic nun, there are times when its obviously Roman biases show through, but on the whole it provides an evenhanded perspective on the year that appears to address both the Catholic and Protestant views fairly well. (There is one chapter dedicated strictly to Marian observances, but it’s relegated to the end of the book, after the basic discussion of the year.)

The Liturgical Year is split into 35 short chapters that work their way through the year, starting with the observance of Advent and Christmas, taking several chapters to discuss Lent and Holy Week, and addressing the “Ordinary Times” that are present around those observances. In general the book is written in a more flowery tone than I expected – at times I felt it suffered from too many fluffy words and not enough meat. But as a primer on the hows and whys of the liturgical year, it served its purpose well enough.

Disclaimer: My copy of the book was provided for free by the folks at BookSneeze.com in return for my publishing a review.

Last night Becky and I sat down to watch the second episode ( titled “Rewind”) of the Fox show Human Target. The first episode was fun in a cheesy action-thriller sort of way, so we decided to give it a continued try.

Back in high school, I had some friends whose dad was a submarine officer in the US Navy. They said it was unbearable to watch The Hunt for Red October around him because he spent the whole moving groaning at the inaccuracies it portrayed in the submarine. After watching this episode of Human Target, I think I now know how he felt. As an avionics systems engineer, the details of this in-air plot just drove me batty. Allow me to elaborate.

First, the plane is going down for no apparent reason. Yes, there’s a fire down in the fuselage, but that shouldn’t cause complete loss of control.

Second, they’ve gotta put the fire out, and apparently there is more wind flow over the top of the aircraft than the bottom (???? Totally bogus) so the solution is to fly upside down until the increased airflow puts the fire out. Are you kidding me?!? We’re not talking a fighter jet here, we’re talking a large airliner. While there is this rather famous video of Boeing test pilot Tex Johnston doing a barrel roll in a 707, look at how much altitude he loses just turning the thing over! There’s no way the airplane could stay airborne and upside down for long, much less the fifteen minutes or so that it does in this episode.

Third, while they’re flying along upside down, suddenly they can’t flip it back around to right-side-up because the on-board computer locked up. We’ll ignore the detail that they say the “flight management” computer locked up when, in reality, it’s the flight control computer that would help them fly the plane. Once the pilot diagnoses that it’s locked up, somebody asks if they can’t just reboot it. And of course the answer is no, they can’t. By this point I’m yelling at the tv screen. “OF COURSE YOU CAN REBOOT IT YOU IDIOTS! POP THE FREAKING BREAKER AND RESET IT AND YOU’LL REBOOT IN JUST A FEW SECONDS!!!” (Becky is not appreciating me too much at this point.) But apparently NONE OF THEM REALIZE THAT, since they then have to go on to…

Fourth, the amazing computer hacker on board decides she can somehow download the flight management software onto her laptop, patch the laptop into the aircraft system, and use it to control the plane. About the only thing that whole sequence gets right is that there are ethernet-based networks on modern aircraft. But it would be next thing to impossible to hack into the system to download the software, and COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE to then patch that laptop into the system. And why was she able to download the software right there in the (upside-down) cabin, but to patch it into the aircraft system, they had to go down to the avionics bay?

Fifth, once they got down to the amazingly-spacious avionics bay, they apparently were able to just unplug a standard RJ45 ethernet jack (and normal-looking ethernet cable) from the aircraft wiring and plug it into the laptop, and SHAZAM! it worked! What they ignore is that standard ethernet wiring and a plastic RJ45 jack would never pass aircraft environmental and vibration testing. All ethernet connections in an avionics system are routed through stout metal screw-on connectors, not secured with wimpy plastic clips.

Well, it’s the world of TV, which means that yes, everything worked out fine inside of an hour, the bad guys were caught, the good guys survived to fight another day, and the hero got in his wisecracks just before the credits rolled. (Oh, and fun side-note: two episodes of Human Target, two appearances by actors who had major roles in Battlestar Galactica. For whatever that’s worth in your geek scoring system.) Next time, I hope they just stay off the airplanes so I don’t have to deal with knowing too much about reality for my hour of entertainment.

I actually just sprained it bad playing basketball last night. Ouch!

So this past weekend I wiped and reloaded my Dell laptop… twice. Long story. Anyhow, each time I had the need to download and install what, for me, is a fairly standard set of free applications – browsers, utilities, communication programs, and the like.

Typically that task takes a while – go visit every program’s website, find the download link, download the program, run through the install dialog, click Next about 4 times, etc. But this time I remembered Lifehacker’s glowing review of Ninite.com and gave it a whirl. And let me just say it here: Ninite does not disappoint.

Ninite is a simple-to-use bulk installer for Windows applications. You hit the Ninite.com home page and select the apps you want to download and install. There are, at present, 68 choices in categories ranging from Browsers, Media, and Imaging to Compression, Developer Tools, and Security. When you’re done making your selections, you hit the “Get Installer” button and a small (500KB-ish) .exe file is downloaded to your machine. Run it, and it will sequentially download and install all of the applications, using the default installer settings.

The two best things I can say about Ninite are that (1) it has a fairly comprehensive list of downloads and (2) it works exactly as advertised. The only apps I needed to download separately were the Adobe Air runtime and my non-free backup software. It likely saved me a couple of hours each time I used it. Worth checking out next time you do a nuke-and-pave.

Brent Thomas posted yesterday on the question of “fencing the table” at communion, and while the comment thread on his post has gone down the path of fencing based on doctrinal fidelity (ah, those Calvinists!), I’ve been more thinking about it from my evangelical perspective, and the idea of partaking “in an unworthy manner”. (Thanks to my brother Andrew for batting around some thoughts with me.)

1 Corinthians 11 is the relevant passage here:

¹⁷In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. ¹⁸In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. ²⁰When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, ²¹for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. ²²Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

²³For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

²⁷Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³²When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

³³So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

Now, in the churches I’ve been in, the pastor typically instructs the congregation something along these lines before communion is served: “take a minute quietly, examine your heart, ask God to reveal sin to you that needs confessed, then confess and partake. Don’t take it unworthily.” And while these are good instructions, I’m not sure they’re actually the point of the passage.

The problem Paul is addressing with the Corinthians isn’t that there are a bunch of unrepentant sinners partaking of communion (which undoubtedly there were), but rather that people are coming and gobbling up the food in a haphazard, flippant, gluttonous fashion, not recognizing, as Paul says, that this is the body of the Lord. They’re not taking it as a serious remembrance. Paul’s corrective summary in verse 33 doesn’t say “repent of your sins before you partake!” – rather, it says “wait for each other”. Paul is emphasizing the corporate nature of this sacrament, something that the Corinthians seem to have forgotten.

I don’t want to discount the need for examining our hearts as we come before God in worship – in Matthew 5:23-24 Jesus says to go make things right with your brother before you come to the altar to sacrifice to God. But I’ve talked to people who told me “you know, I thought about it, and I remembered something I needed to settle with another person, so I let the elements go by and didn’t partake”, and this, to me, seems to be entirely missing the point.

Partaking of the bread and the cup in communion is a reminder of the sacrifice that gave us salvation. In giving us salvation, God calls us to repent and believe, even knowing full well that perfect repentance won’t ever happen for us this side of eternity. In communion, God calls us to remember the death of His Son, with the same heart of brokenness and repentance that is working in our salvation, even as He knows that each of us will go back out and willfully commit sin.

To put it another way: communion isn’t intended to be for Christians who’ve somehow managed to get everything cleaned up. In examining ourselves, we should quickly recognize that we wretched, miserable sinners desperately need Jesus’ blood to cleanse us every day. And in partaking, we should not fear that we’ve somehow forgotten a sin and so God is going to smack us, but rather should be humbly thankful for the awesome gift we have been given.

Painting by Kjersti Timenes.

My friend Dan’s greeting on Twitter this morning brought this song to mind – it’s a witty, punny little two minutes that’s completely worth your time.

The Muppet Show doing “Going To Morrow”.

Time to start something new around here – from time to time I’ll highlight a record that I’ve been playing. I’ll start with a rather obscure one this afternoon: Brian Eno’s Ambient 1: Music for Airports.

Brian Eno is pretty much the king of ambient music, and Ambient 1 is one of his earlier works, dating back to 1978. This isn’t something that you’re going to want to sit down and just focus on for the entire 45 minute playtime, but it makes a beautiful backdrop to an hour, almost fading out here and there but never quite leaving the edges of your consciousness. Even if you’re not typically a listener of ambient music, it’s worth a try.

No promises about the video content on this one, but the music is worth a listen.

In 2010 I’m undertaking the Bible reading plan put out by The Journey, and this morning’s reading hit an interesting combination of passages – Genesis 4, Psalm 4, and Matthew 4. The theme that links them all: offering right sacrifices to God.

Genesis 4 gives us the familiar story of Cain and Abel. Abel gives the right sort of sacrifice. Cain doesn’t. Jealousy and murder ensues. Such a tragic story.

Psalm 4:4 – 8 follows up that sobering story with these verses:

4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.

5 Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.

6 Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?”
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

7 You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

8 I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

David gets in several zingers here that speak directly to me in my daily situation:

• If you’re angry with what you see happening, don’t sin, but rather shut your mouth and search your heart.
• Offer right sacrifices and trust the Lord.
• The light of God’s face on us will bring joy greater than any material possession.
• I can sleep in peace knowing that God alone is my security.

So what are these “right sacrifices” that God wants from me? A couple of texts quickly come to mind:

1 Samuel 15 – King Saul attempts half-hearted, doing-what-seems-right sacrifices, and is corrected by Samuel: God desires obedience rather than those sacrifices.

Romans 12 – reaffirms the command in 1 Samuel by telling us that we should present our bodies as living sacrifices.

So there it is, loud and clear: the right sacrifice that God desires is our obedience. If I’m wearing myself out doing lots of ‘good things’ thinking that God will be happy with me, while at the same time I’m ignoring areas in my life where I’m choosing to not be obedient to God, I’m doing it wrong. God has already justified me apart from any right living on my part. My obedience to him is an offering to show my love to Him for what He has already done. And, as the Psalmist says, I will find greater joy and peace in that life of obedience than in any striving for material things.

The final passage in today’s reading (Matthew 4) fits in nicely with this lesson as well. Jesus goes to the desert and is tempted by Satan with some ‘good’ things. Jesus, though, sets the example for us by choosing obedience. I would do well to follow.