Eating Elephants

You have heard the answer to the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” Of course, the answer is, “One bite at a time.” The purpose of question/answer is to help one realize that regardless of how large your problem, challenge, issue, goal may be, you solve or arrive at the desired result, the same way, one bite at a time.

The fact that is hard to remember is that the process of eating is the same for whatever size meal you may have before you. Whether you are eating a peanut-butter sandwich or an elephant, you take the food item, and bring it to your mouth, take a bite, and begin chewing. Since the process is the same regardless of the size of the meal, it is logical to deduce that the size of meal should not be a factor in the decision of one starting the process.

Now I understand that the size of the meal can be intimidating if you are expected to consume all that is set before you. However, since we are not using the analogy to discuss the eating of food, the goals we are trying to achieve or problems we are attempting to overcome typically do not require a solution be reached in one sitting. We may in fact want to have the goal met or issue dealt with quickly, but this does not mean that it has to be. More than often, that is simply our impatience forming our expectations and not a well informed understanding of the situation we are desiring to change.

Finally, both you and I will end up taking several bites as we sit at several meals throughout our lifetime. We might as well be taking bites out of those goals and issues that are before us. We all exist in time. We will use this time for something. This moment-by-moment time is the same for everyone regardless of how we use it. Therefore, start biting!!

...you who judge practice the same things.

I have been thinking about a particular passage of scripture lately. I have been thinking about it because the longer I live, the more I realize that the little things I note about others that annoy me are the same things that I do, maybe less or in a different form, but still I do them.

The passage that I am thinking of is Romans 2:1. The New American Standard translation states:
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

The Message paraphrase states the passage as:
Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors.

Yes, at work, I hear the annoying laugh of the girl in the adjacent department and then realize just how silly my laugh can be at times. Or, I notice the peculiarities of others around me. Then I see that these are the same tendencies that I exhibit.

In fact, for quite some time I have thought that this passage was only speaking of the preceding section of Romans, chapter 1, that details how that even though mankind has a general revelation of God in nature, we have and do suppress that truth and spiral into all sorts of wickedness. Oh my!! You mean that as we see this taking place in our time, we are in fact doing the same things. Yes. Perhaps in less obvious forms, but still the same, we are actively at fault, just as those outside the family of Christ. Not just in the large things. But as time has shown me, the small, insignificant things also. Indeed, in my view, the Word of God is true.

Yet, what is different about us who name the name of Jesus? Do we deserve any less punishment than they? More on this later....

Great GoF Patterns site with C# examples

Here is a great site that defines, models, and provides demo code in C# of the Gang of Four (GoF) software design patterns.

First Post

Well, here is my first post. Stay tuned for "musings" on topics like software development, primarily on Microsoft's .Net platform, as that is what I do to pay the bills and what I love to do. I admit, I am blessed in that I like my job!

Also, and more importantly, stay tuned for thoughts on a Biblical Worldview.