Sleeping in the dust
That might not sound like much fun but ya'know that is where many of us will go...
Yep, right there in Daniel 12:2 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (KJV)
It seems to me to be the perfect companion to the scriptures that say we were made from dust and that we return to dust! I always thought that passage was talking about being in the hole where many are buried, but I got a different perspective tonight while I was puzzling through an issue that has been blocking my testing at work. I was also listening to some prophecy videos regarding the Sunday evening 4th Blood Moon of the latest tetrad... Not only the 4th, but all 4 falling on Jewish holy days plus, a Super Moon, plus a Shemitah marker, plus a Jubilee marker... on and on...
When I gave my life to Christ in grad school it was a struggle for me... I felt like I had to give up my scientific mind and cling to mythical religion... and the Lord required that of me. Then immediately he gave it back and I began to realize that the more I learned about the world, the more it pointed me to him! That is really the point of my series in the blog "I do not exist". My final conclusion there was "Sorry Renee <Descartes>, God thinks, therefore I am." I showed through a series of arguments that we are not whom we think we are and that actually we are manifested physically by a sort of program that God set to create us moment by moment from the ever changing dust of the earth. In "In His Image" and other books, Dr. Paul Brand (with Phillip Yancey) described how every molecule in our bodies - including our bones - is swapped out for new "dust" every 3-4 years! It is pretty hard to look in a mirror after that revelation without seeing a physical manifestation of God's moment by moment creative activity in my life... what amazing love...
Over the centuries various thinkers from various religious backgrounds have pondered death and specifically, where we go when we die. The scriptures seem contradictory where some places speak about "sleep" while other places seem to indicate that we will be immediately in the presence of Christ... ugh... to much to figure out! Like other things (e.g. free will/predestination) I sort of find a place to soak in the various arguments and just see how it ends up. Usually I come to some scientific way of visualizing it that satisfies my curiosity and allows me to see both sides at once. Daniel 12:2 just did this for me on the death issue. Now it fits perfectly with my conclusion in the blog...
You see, if I am manifested in this physical space by a program that uses the dust of the earth to create a physical me, then I am very comfortable imagining my body as "sleeping" in the dust.. after all it always was only dust! Some people worry that on resurrection day our bodies will not be able to be put back together if we are lost at sea, eaten by creatures, burned... see now? None of that matters! We do not have the same molecules in us for very long anyway!
2 Cor 5:8 (KJV)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
I am kind of sleepy now... time to sleep... nois
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Walking Machine
The Walking Machine
My son Nate has an uncanny ability to find things that fit my interest! From flutes to coffee roasting he seems to strike notes that resonate in my brain! (No, other kids, I am not saying that you don't resonate too!) We have chosen as a family to not buy birthday presents and we exchange names for Christmas presents, but sometimes we do give gifts, make things or promise dates. This year Nate did it again...
A few years ago we shared some web sites, pics and YouTube clips about amazing beach wind walkers called Strandbeests invented in 1990 by Theo Jansen of the Netherlands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWK75_3S6Kg&list=PL199650F0D691ACD6
He makes most of his "beests" from PVC pipe, so that is right up my ally. Nate gave me a small, injection molded kit to make one of the incredible works of "engineering art".
Here is the kit and the parts laid out.
With all the pile, it seems quite daunting, but really there are just 12 legs made from 4 parts each and hooked to a frame with ties. Here are the 12 leg assemblies.
Once the legs are made, the frames are hooked to the crank shafts and then the legs are hooked on.
Once the 6 legs are added to each half of the "beest" the halfs are joined.
I got a little confused about finishing a leg set. I thought they were hanging the first legs on both crank sides and left off 2 of the tie rods! After I got the whole thing done it was sort of floppy... I figured it out, what with all the extra ties duh, and I was able to slip the missing rods in without taking anything apart. I also was having trouble with the slip together joints falling apart... that was much better once the movement was more limited by having all the ties installed.
Build the fan and add the gears...
I also had some trouble with binding at some points as it walked. The instructions advised the builder to verify the order of the ties on the cranks, so I checked them and sure enough there were 2 where I had the order wrong. Once I fixed that I could easily blow on the fan and watch the "beest" walk across the table!
I had hoped to build this with my 4 yo, but once I got it open it seemed clear that it was not a good project for him. However... I am pretty sure there will be PVC models scaled up from these plans! The little guy was installing bolts and nuts with me at 2, so I think he will handle that easily!
Thanks Nate!
Update 3/2/15... I had a dream about a "beestbike" that I made out of conduit pipe. I searched YouTube and found a few similar ones but then tonight, I stumbled upon this one... nailed it! Then... from the sublime to the ridiculous...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzzAgVOsTKQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKabtU3fDk
Nois...
Update 3/6/2015... With almost forgotten CAD skills, being new to Google SketchUp and never having done an articulated model animation... I guess this did not turn out too bad! Now I can play with different configurations without needing to cut 120 pipes! (this shows one set of legs)
My son Nate has an uncanny ability to find things that fit my interest! From flutes to coffee roasting he seems to strike notes that resonate in my brain! (No, other kids, I am not saying that you don't resonate too!) We have chosen as a family to not buy birthday presents and we exchange names for Christmas presents, but sometimes we do give gifts, make things or promise dates. This year Nate did it again...
A few years ago we shared some web sites, pics and YouTube clips about amazing beach wind walkers called Strandbeests invented in 1990 by Theo Jansen of the Netherlands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSKyHmjyrkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWK75_3S6Kg&list=PL199650F0D691ACD6
He makes most of his "beests" from PVC pipe, so that is right up my ally. Nate gave me a small, injection molded kit to make one of the incredible works of "engineering art".
Here is the kit and the parts laid out.
With all the pile, it seems quite daunting, but really there are just 12 legs made from 4 parts each and hooked to a frame with ties. Here are the 12 leg assemblies.
Once the legs are made, the frames are hooked to the crank shafts and then the legs are hooked on.
Once the 6 legs are added to each half of the "beest" the halfs are joined.
I got a little confused about finishing a leg set. I thought they were hanging the first legs on both crank sides and left off 2 of the tie rods! After I got the whole thing done it was sort of floppy... I figured it out, what with all the extra ties duh, and I was able to slip the missing rods in without taking anything apart. I also was having trouble with the slip together joints falling apart... that was much better once the movement was more limited by having all the ties installed.
Build the fan and add the gears...
I also had some trouble with binding at some points as it walked. The instructions advised the builder to verify the order of the ties on the cranks, so I checked them and sure enough there were 2 where I had the order wrong. Once I fixed that I could easily blow on the fan and watch the "beest" walk across the table!
I had hoped to build this with my 4 yo, but once I got it open it seemed clear that it was not a good project for him. However... I am pretty sure there will be PVC models scaled up from these plans! The little guy was installing bolts and nuts with me at 2, so I think he will handle that easily!
Thanks Nate!
Update 3/2/15... I had a dream about a "beestbike" that I made out of conduit pipe. I searched YouTube and found a few similar ones but then tonight, I stumbled upon this one... nailed it! Then... from the sublime to the ridiculous...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzzAgVOsTKQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKabtU3fDk
Nois...
Update 3/6/2015... With almost forgotten CAD skills, being new to Google SketchUp and never having done an articulated model animation... I guess this did not turn out too bad! Now I can play with different configurations without needing to cut 120 pipes! (this shows one set of legs)
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