Signs of the Times (part 6) - Fear of Missing Out

everystockphoto.com/Social Media Patterns

First World Problems?

May these be one of the Signs of the Times?

What are some of these big First World Problems?  And in this world of pain, doom, and strife, they seem rather trivial.  Here are a few of them, which you can tweet - for grins: First World Problems - Funny First World Problem Meme Images

Along with these First World Problem comes another phobia - much of it rooted in social media and the deluge of information coming at us from the ubiquitous internet:

FOMO - Fear of Missing Out

It's an understatement to say there is a lot of information out there.  How do we begin to filter what is important?  Some of this was addressed in a previous blog:   Proverbs (part 1) - Information vs. Wisdom .  And in the cyberspace, we did make many searches, so we would not miss out, such as is summarized here:  Infographic: What You Searched Google For 2014 | Digital Buzz Blog

But the video clip below explains this new First World Problem fear - FOMO - with its philosophical spin:

(reference:  http://youtu.be/KsSmFZNrpLc )

And King Solomon expressed some of this FOMO - the longing in the human spirit for something more, that there is an intuition that there is something greater.  He infers that the Creator made us this way:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

He has also set eternity in the human heart; 

yet no one can fathom what God has done
from beginning to end.

 Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)

But to not to commit?  Really?  Not make a choice?  Is that not a choice?  Actually, there is an old saying about this phobia (from James, the Just, the half-brother of Jesus):

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:8 (KJV)

Perhaps, this restlessness, wanting it all, but not committing, refusing to choose, being double minded, unstable, is one of the

Signs of the Times? 

----------------------------
----------------------------

Previous posts in this series:

Signs of the Times (part 1) - Camping in the Parks (2012)

Signs of the Times (part 2) - Layaway (2012)

Signs of the Times (part 3) - Layoffs (2013)

Signs of the Times (part 4) - Doomsday Preppers  (2013)

Signs of the Times (part 5) - Staycations (2013)

----------------------------
----------------------------

Photo from:  everystockphoto.com/Social Media Patterns

Proverbs (part 3) - Strangers with eye candy?

Wikipedia/The Procuress

The Book of Proverbs spends many chapters warning young men about the strange woman ...  the adulterous woman.  And those warnings certainly apply to the young woman about the strange man.  Here is a sample of such life tips:

1  My son, pay attention to my wisdom,

turn your ear to my words of insight,

2  that you may maintain discretion

and your lips may preserve knowledge.

3  For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil;

4  but in the end she is bitter as gall,

sharp as a double-edged sword.

5  Her feet go down to death;

her steps lead straight to the grave.

6  She gives no thought to the way of life;

her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

Proverbs 5 (NIV)

And the Book of Proverbs is filled with many, many more warnings on this same theme.  Take a gander at these verses:  Proverbs 2:16-19 ; Proverbs 5 ; Proverbs 6:20-35 ; Proverbs 7 ;  Proverbs 9:13-18

Simple put:

Beware of Strangers with Eye Candy

The tabloids and their ilk devour a regular diet of the indiscretions of prominent political figures (from both parties), high profile religious leaders, captains of industry, entertainers, sports heroes, and other celebrities.  (Just google "mistresses" with your chosen powerful positions and/or celebrity.)  And many of these dalliances have had tragic consequences - damaged reputations, ruined marriages, ended careers, and hurt the innocent.

Many songs bemoan such ruin.  And one such hit the top of the charts on this theme - 50 years ago - September 5, 1964.

The House of the Rising Sun
by the Animals

[reference:  House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals tops the U.S. pop charts — History.com This Day in History — 9/5/1964]

(reference:  http://youtu.be/y2oKRKZnEoA )

Lyrics found here:  THE ANIMALS LYRICS - House Of The Rising Sun

But in the Book of Proverbs there is another mistress who is the counter to the strange woman.  She is called Wisdom and she is personified as a woman:

20  Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,

she raises her voice in the public square;
 

21  on top of the wall she cries out,

at the city gate she makes her speech:

22  “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery

and fools hate knowledge?
 

23  Repent at my rebuke!

Then I will pour out my thoughts to you,

I will make known to you my teachings.

Proverbs 1 (NIV)

And the Book of Proverbs is filled with many pictures of Wisdom calling out to the simple and the foolish.  Here are some of  her instructions: Proverbs 1:20-33 ; Proverbs 2 ; Proverbs 3 ; Proverbs 4 ; Proverbs 8 ; Proverbs 9:1-12

As the strange man/woman ruins, Wisdom redeems.  

King David was a strange man, an adulterer, and he found forgiveness and redemption as he wrote:

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.
  

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

Psalm 51 (NIV)

That Wisdom is found in the Son of David, Jesus, in which all can find forgiveness, even the strange man or woman, adulterers. As to the woman caught in adultery (curious note is the man was not brought forth, too), Jesus said this of her accusers -

"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

The story is found in the Gospel of John - John 8:1-1 and is illustrated in the short clip below.

(reference:  http://youtu.be/rFyymEvM6Dw )

The Wisdom of Proverbs speaks of the Wisdom of Christ - the incarnation of Wisdom. 

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, 

who has become for us wisdom from God—

that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)

His Words can save us from the seduction of adultery ... and save those who have committed adultery and make us whole again.  As one forgiven adulterer, David, once said -

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

    so that sinners will turn back to you.

Psalm 51:13 (NIV)

And that is sweeter than candy!

-----------------

-----------------

Previous post in the series:

Proverbs (part 1) - Information vs. Wisdom (2013)

Proverbs (part 2) - Live Long and Prosper (2013)

-----------------

-----------------

Photo from: Wikipedia/The Procuress

Proverbs (part 1) - Information vs. Wisdom

Wikipedia/Internet map

If you are reading this blog post, you are on the Internet, my friend.  Above is a partial map of the Internet based on the January 15, 2005 data (according to the description of the image source).  And eight years later, I imagine this map looks even more hairy and tangled!

There is a lot of information out there.  

Go to google.com and google the keyword - information.  Try it here - results for information

When I did it (September 19, 2013), I came up with 6,380,000,000 hits!  That's almost as much as one hit per person on this planet, which is over 7 billion.  [reference: World Population Clock: 7 Billion People (2013) - Worldometers]

And information is growing exponentially as shown in this video clip below (which is 3 years old and already out-dated):  (reference:  http://youtu.be/yrRn7rSif2Q)

How do we manage with so much information thrown at us - ever growing, ever changing?

It takes some wisdom.

So let's go back to google.com and google the keyword - wisdom. Try it - results for wisdom

When I did it (September 19, 2013), I came up with 146,000,000 hits.  That's a little less than one hit for half the population of the United States, about 316 million.  [reference:  Population Clock]

Roughly that is a ratio of information / wisdom of 44 to 1.

Wisdom is definitely lacking here - if we only go by these raw statistics.

But wisdom is calling ...

Out in the open wisdom calls aloud,
she raises her voice in the public square;
on top of the wall she cries out,
at the city gate she makes her speech:
Proverbs 1:20, 21 (NIV)

For this reason, I began a new series on *Proverbs * - a source of wisdom.

Proverbs has 31 chapters and is one book of 66 books (in the Protestant Bible).  But what it lacks in volume, it packs quite a punch in quality.

For starters, here are some proverbs on Wisdom, in this clip:  (reference: http://youtu.be/wPfKI2HOfgc)

And the entire Book of Proverbs is read here - http://youtu.be/Z9ku-DB8nxw
(It's over 90 minutes when read, but a twinkle of an eye when considering all the information out there!)

And here is an appropriate proverb on wisdom to kick off this series ... on Proverbs:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
    and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10  (NIV)


-------------------
-------------------

Recent posts on similar topics:

Timeless Truths (part 3) - Hakuna Matata - No Worries? (2013)

Biblia Files (part 1) - Thru the Bible (2013)

Biblia Files (part 2) - What is the Bible Basically About? (2013)

-------------------
-------------------

Photo from:  Wikipedia -  Internet map

What a Ham I am (Part 4): Have you hugged your Elmer today?

Elmer!

Back in the days when I worked outside the home for pay, my job took me to offices with no windows behind closed doors.  These secure modules lay beyond the ken of public scrutiny and of the regular policing of an on-site manager. In such environs, the workplace morphed into a cross between a Snake Pit and Never Neverland.  And if you were not in clique, you might as well just hang it up.

One of my friends was a target of the office bullies in such an environ.  His "cooler" co-workers called him, Elmer,  mainly for his resemblance to Elmer Fudd.  And it was an insult wrapped in the cloak of a jest.  All of us who have watched Bugs Bunny cartoons know that Elmer Fudd was not all that bright.  He could not even outsmart a rabbit.

Oh, what wonderful co-workers we were to each other back then!

I told his coworkers, they really paid my friend a high compliment calling him Elmer.  An Elmer was a wise person, a mentor, who helps novices and the experienced - like them perhaps?  I still wonder if that comment went over their heads.

That's what an Elmer really means in the world of ham radio - the Luke Skywalker's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  And Elmers helped me get to the next level.

To get a license or upgrade, an Elmer is good thing to have

In an earlier blog, I wrote how after 25 years as a tech plus, I finally made the plunge and took the test and graduated to general.  Check out: What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up!

There are many tools to prepare a hobbyist to learn the material and study for the test to qualify for the license.  One resource is this question pool, online courtesy of the ARRL, which lists the questions and the answers for the various tests.

Some taking the test said they printed out question pool and all the answers and read them over a few times immediately before the test so they had the right choices memorized.

But did they understand what they were reading?

No doubt some did.  And some were very good hams.  But I suspect some knew how to black out the right letter in the multiple choice form, but did not know ham radio from green eggs and ham.

That's why Elmers are so important as they help us less experienced get to the next levels - knowing more than just picking the right choices on the test.  They can get the right equipment configured to get on the air within the bounds set by the FCC.

There are different levels of knowledge.

And all these levels are in the hobby.

First - rote learning. 

It's one level of understanding - how we learn to read and write.  Memorization.  We can pick the right boxes, but may have no understanding what it means.

It's a quantum leap from picking the right answers on a pencil paper test to understanding the principles behind it.

Next - understanding of the theory. 

This is where I am at.  In school, I liked Electricity and Magnetism (EM) and ham radio depends on it.  Here is a sample of my EM - The Scotsman who beat Einstein

In my post above, I actually did something like the derivation in my article for homework, but I classify myself as a bad ham.  I am really not all that practical.

Final - getting it to work right

It is another quantum leap from understanding the principles of EM to having the practical wisdom of getting a station on the air and working properly within the realm of physics and the FCC requirements.

This is why Elmers are so needed.  My OM is one of them.  He has not only the theory down, but the practical wisdom to make it happen, such as described in these articles:  Tech Talk.

"Elmers" are important in many aspects of life beyond a hobby.  And they have the wisdom not found in a text book and can pass down lessons learned to the next generation. As for me, I would not be in this hobby without an Elmer.

So have you hugged your Elmer today? 

(OMs  may express your appreciation to your OM Elmer(s) in other ways.)
 
I need to hug mine - my OM - and it is good that I am his XYL.

Pssst!  For the secret code for  - OM/XYL - check out Ham Speak

----------------------------------

Previous Posts of this series:

What a Ham I am (Part 1) - moving on up!

What a Ham I am (Part 2) - When lightening strikes

What a Ham I am (Part 3) - Hams make Contact


----------------------------------


Photos from everystockphoto.com:  Dr. Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov