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I started reading in the book of Jeremiah the other day and today I read from chapter 5 (for the more context, go here). Jeremiah is speaking to the Israelites about their lack of awe for God and their idol worship. Then, in 5:28-29 he says,

They are well fed and well groomed, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. Should I not punish them for this?” asks the LORD. “Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?

Did you notice it? I’m struck by the fact that it seems most of the focus here is on the fact that the Israelites were failing in the area of justice. There’s no mention of cultural issues: don’t listen to that Babylonian music, you aren’t praying enough, you said a naughty word, don’t even think about skipping church! The thrust of their problem is how they treat the people around them. Namely the orphans and the poor.

If this is the case, then why do we spend so much time worrying about things that don’t really move the heart of God? Why do we insist on spending more time on ourselves (and others in our circle) than on those people around us who are unable to help themselves?

And, of course, I have to ask myself, what have I done to help the cause of the poor and the orphan? How have I led our students in this area?

I don’t have it all figured/planned out, but I’m praying that we can continue to align ourselves to God’s plan and mission for the world instead of our own agenda(s).

I don’t like pets. Bethany and I have both agreed that we will never have a pet in our home. They smell, ruin your furniture and carpet (okay, I’m sure YOURS doesn’t), and you have to take care of them. It’s just a losing situation in my opinion.

Anyway, we went to a “Concert on the Greens” thing here in our town. They had classic cars and the Elvis impersonator was just wrapping up when we arrived. Then we sat around for about a half an hour until a band came up to perform classic rock and roll songs. It was nice and a lot of people showed up.

People AND their dogs. What is it with people and their pets that I don’t understand? There were mangy muts all over the place. At one point, a man brought his two chihuahuas over and sat down behind us and in front of another set of insane animal lovers and their two cocker spaniels. After five minutes of both groups of dogs barking and howling, the man finally got the clue that he should move. Then there was the other “gentleman” who’s voice raised in volume with his consumption of alcohol. Apparently he was walking around with his niece’s puppy. When he returned to his group next to us he announced to them (and everyone else on the east lawn) that this dog was the missing link in his ability to “pick up the ladies”. Amazing. I’m in awe that one rat look-a-like dog would cause any woman to see past (or should I say smell past?) all the booze this guy had inhaled.

Annoying.

I suppose all of this is worth it because just as we were leaving two friendly high school park ranger police busted the loud guy for bringing another case beer in the park. You should’ve seen the look on the guys face…. Oh well, at least he’s got the ladies.

Bethany likes to buy generic items from the store. I’ve learned to tolerate most of it, but there’s a few things that I’ll never get used to. For instance, if I wanted generic Lucky Charms in the morning, I’d just assume buy a box of colored chalk and eat a stick on my way in to work each day. But calling it cereal? That’s got to be criminal. And don’t even get me started on potato chips or Target brand razors.

Anyway, Bethany has been buying me Target branded mouthwash recently and I decided to take a look at the back of the bottle while I was swishing away. Here’s what the bottle says:

“Directions: Rinse or gargle for 30 seconds with one ounce of this product. Do not swallow.”

Sounds easy right? Well, it continues…

“The invigorating taste of the product tells you it’s killing germs that cause bad breath. Its minty taste tells you how minty fresh your breath can be.”

What? Did a 3rd grader write this? So “minty” equals “minty fresh” and “invigorating” means “killing germs”. What? Since when does mouthwash have two tastes? And someone please tell me what “invigorating” tastes like!

Yet it continues.

“Use this product and have confidence to get kissably close.”

Again, who writes this? I can understand this language for an advertisement for this product, but as a part of the directions? Besides, “kissably” isn’t even a word. Newsflash to the person who wrote the back label: Talk to the person who designed the front. Underneath the Target logo and the title “mouthwash and gargle” is a two point purpose for this product. 1) Kills germs and 2)Freshens breath. There is no 3) Makes user kissable (which IS a word). And don’t command me to use your product. I don’t like being bossed around and having confidence forced upon me.

Look, if you are so dense that you don’t realize that you shouldn’t get “kissably close” to someone when you have bad breath, you probably can’t read anyway.

I suppose generic products means generic labels. I just noticed that the front also says “Compare to Scope Original Mint”. Hmmm, so what does Scopes label say according to Amazon.com?

“Scope kills millions of bad breath germs. Scope Mouthwash’s minty tingle gets your breath clean and fresh. Use Scope for the confidence to get closer.”

See, you crazy generic mouthwash people? That’s how you write a label. Tell us why we need it (see first sentence). Tell us why we should use it (see second sentence). And tell us why we can’t live without it (see last sentence).

And now I am done rambling/ranting.

Okay, so I saw the link to this article on ysmarko’s blog. I thought it was pretty funny so I figured I’d post it here.

Apparently two 14 year old boys decided to jump into the hippo exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo and throw rocks at the animals. Hippo’s, according to the article, are one of the most dangerous animals in the world due to their huge size and their great speed for short distances.

What would drive two teenage boys to such stupidity?

There were trying to impress a girl.