March 29, 2010 in
MISCELLANY with
I have just made it a bit easier for you to find my blog. You can now leave “wordpress” out of the address, and just type thefallencleric.com into your browser.
Now for a word about subscribing. About 98% of my readers are simply clicking on the link I post to this blog after I write each new post. While there is nothing wrong with this, it is kind of the roundabout way of reading a blog. The easiest way to do it is to simply have each post automatically download into Internet Explorer or Firefox as it becomes available. In Internet Explorer, do this by clicking on RSS – Posts in the Subscribe box at the top right of this page. At the top of the page, you will see a message like this:
You are viewing a feed that contains frequently updated content. When you subscribe to a feed, it is added to the Common Feed List. Updated information from the feed is automatically downloaded to your computer and can be viewed in Internet Explorer and other programs. Learn more about feeds.
Subscribe to this feed
Click on the Subscribe to this feed link in your browser. A dialog box will come up. Click the Add to Favorites Bar checkbox, and click on the Subscribe button. That’s it. From now on, every time I finish a new post, Internet Explorer will notify you. You’ll see The Fallen Cleric on your toolbar at the top of your browser, and when you mouse over it, the most recent posts will pop up underneath, newest to oldest, top to bottom. Just click on the one you want to read.
In Firefox, simply click on the orange RSS symbol on the right side of your address bar. A new page will come up. Make sure it says, “Subscribe to this feed using Live Bookmarks.” Click Subscribe Now. That’s it. Now you will be able to view posts in your browser as the blog is updated.
The advantage to subscribing is that you don’t have to a) remember the address of the blog and keep typing it into your browser; b) look for the link on Facebook. This can cut Facebook out of the picture entirely, as you’ll no longer be dependent on Facebook to know when a new post goes up. Simply open your browser and if there’s anything new, you’ll see it by mousing over The Fallen Cleric icon on your browser toolbar.
And there is your tech training for today!
March 29, 2010 in
COUNSELING with
photo by gray la gran
I am a pastor, counselor, and college professor. This basically means that my life is all about trying to answer questions people ask me. One of the questions I am asked most often is, “What do I do?” Christians want to know what to do to grow in their faith. Married couples want to know how to fix their marriages. Students want to know how to get an A.
There’s nothing wrong with this question if you are changing a tire, or starting a workout routine, or traveling to Las Vegas. But in religious life, married life, and student life, the question misses the mark. In fact, simply asking the question often reveals the problem the questioner has to begin with, which is actually a mindset problem.
When someone comes to see me in my counseling office with a problem, and wants to know what to do, I usually feel like it’s a bad idea to try to answer that. For in front of me sits a husband who has probably already tried everything. He has tried kindness. He has tried meanness. He has tried silence. He has tried threats. He has tried romance. He has tried ignoring the problem. He has tried confronting it. He now sits in my office not because he needed someplace to drop $40, and not because he would love to know how I am doing, but because he doesn’t know how to fix his marriage. What he desperately wants is to give me $40 in return for a bulleted list of things to do that he hasn’t already tried. Then he wants to go home, try them, and find that his problems are solved.
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March 26, 2010 in
MISCELLANY with
Uploaded to Flickr on November 5, 2009 by fraew
Okay, it’s probably not as dramatic as my headline, and definitely not as dramatic as the picture, but we’re getting rid of Dish Network. And we’re moving to a basic cable plan that offers six local stations and that’s it. The only reason we’re even doing that is because that’s what is required in order to get the price we need on Internet (which we are decidedly NOT ditching).
This is step 1 in my plan to move my family off the grid. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t plan on selling our home and building a yert.
We’re not going to invest in solar panels, or power our home with wind (at least not yet). And I don’t see this becoming our means of transportation any time soon.
photo by Tim Wood
It’s not like that. I’m not against modern conveniences. What I’m against is the way they have taken over my life, and the way we have all become convinced that we cannot live without them. What are you paying every month for TV? When I found out we were “getting cable” in the early 80′s, and that it would be $20/month, I was both excited and appalled.
“We’re going to pay for something we can get free?”
“Well, yes, but there’ll be even more.”
And so there was. More channels. More providers. More choices. And much, much more money. Not since Starbucks convinced people to pay $4.50 to drink what used to cost them 25 cents have we witnessed such an extraordinary conversion in consumer consciousness. (Disclaimer: As an avowed coffee lover, I have to be clear that I’m not saying you don’t get a far better product at Starbucks compared to the 25 cent bottomless cup of coffee at the local diner.)
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