Robot Love (The Humans Are Dead)

Robot Love.  We love.  We want others to know we love them.  At some point we are asked for something specifically: a gift registry, a birthday wish, things we ourselves wouldn't care to give; we get a rebellious twinge at the feeling that we are being instructed how to show our devotion.  To truly show our love we want our gift to be creative, to appear as though it comes from the heart.  Sometimes, the perfect demonstration of love is as simple a sacrifice as following through with, what is to us, a meaningless  request.

Robot Sin   We had an argument the other day.  It was over chores, but the topic could have been anything.  Husband said something out loud to me that I've said a thousand times myself in action to him, "Why can't I do what I want to do for you?" he exclaimed, "You're trying to make me into this...robot!"  I responded acerbically, "If we were Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden you'd be recorded as saying, 'I ate from the tree 'cause I ain't no robot, God.' (vocalizing a poor Shaft imitation) And everyone would blame Adam for the fall of man."  We were suddenly laughing at the image:  Adam and Eve, standing leaf-clothed in the garden of Eden, talking robots and sin with God. 

It doesn't really matter who ate first; anyway, Eve would have TOTALLY fallen for the bad boy Adam. 

Robot Forgiveness  We forgave all and forgot most (except for what we think is funny and useful), and moved on:  We talked about robots and sin.


The Humans Are Dead Humanity died, humans die, man fell, because we are not robots. We have free will.  We can choose to disobey.  We seem to have forgotten, free will also means we can freely obey.  


Robot Purity.  Glorified Waste.  And yet, obedience to God (purity in general) is often portrayed as boring or dull:  Characters in dramas that live even slightly upright lives get depicted as empty-headed automatons.  Purity is treasured publicly primarily through celebrating its loss:  It is now a right of passage for starlets to claim they're going to "shed their wholesome image" not realizing that this very routine makes purity maintained far more rare and unique; making selling it truly robotic.  Talk Shows, Dramas and magazines bolster mistakes and makes heroes out of those who simply sit in the ashes of their burned bridges, rather than rising from them.  We've forgotten the phoenix, the flames and the rising above.  We've mistakenly begun to admire the ashes of a land laid waste instead of the victory which makes them beautiful by contrast.



Which Robot?   Which is more robotic: To obey the demands of our gullet and temptation to the point of great predictability, or to obey Truth and act in love?  
The truth is, I have to rebel against my complex human programming in order to obey My Lord.  To Love Him with all my heart, soul, and mind and to Love My Neighbor as much as I seem to adore myself has proven to be against my primary code.  It is the most difficult and un-robotic (not automatic)goal I will ever strive for.
  

Robot Song "The Humans Are Dead" Just for laughs and because we like Flight of the Conchords (yes, there's a bit 'o swearing). 

"A Good Signpost"

"A good signpost doesn’t say, “look at me, what a great sign I am, aren’t I so clear, bold and striking!” No, a good signpost doesn’t distract or call for attention to itself, but points you to something greater. Humble leaders point people to Jesus."

Let me point you to this incredible article which you've now read a bit of:   Leading in Light of Christ's Perfection

Sunflowers' Song

Somehow, this slightly sad song was produced while I was in a very cheerful mood.  After I wrote it, someone mentioned that National Child Abuse Prevention Month which is why there are blue ribbons everywhere (in the States).  So maybe I had forgotten and wrote it subconsciously(?).  

It's primarily based on several conversations with a dearly loved friend who does amazing work with young children (there is also a little bit of the beautiful children I had the privilege of working with during my social work internship).  

So now you know what the blue ribbons mean.  And the truth is, many of us are in positions to see children closely enough to know if we should be keeping an extra eye on their situation.  For such is the kingdom of heaven.

Sunflowers' Song

VERSE 1

See the little babies and they're walking down the street; 

Singing little lullabies to an extraordinary beat.

Oh it's true, I cry too, when I see the way they live. 

They walk through hard doors and on cold floors on baby bare feet

CHORUS Baby, baby, "Maybe," you say, "It's better this way." 

            Baby, baby, "Maybe," you say, "They should never have stayed."

VERSE 2

Into your room they wander and you teach them how to eat, 

Or how to pay their bills and take their pills 
And to their face you'd never admit defeat.

It makes you angry, I understand; when I held your tender hand... 

It seems the hard world brought you a cold soul 
And too many wounds to mend. (chorus x2)

VERSE 3                                                                                                                                    See the little babies as they're walkin' down the street. 

Turning like sunflowers to every smiling eye they meet. 

Your heart is breaking every day. And sometimes you say you wanna run.

They bloom in hard times and in cold ground and to them you are the sun. 

They bloom through hard times and in the cold ground and to them you are the sun. 

(WHOOPS NOTE: I say "cold scround" the first time because I was thinking of singing "cold soil" or "cold ground" and combined it...heh)

Do You Understand?

About 2-3 days, for 2-3 hours, Toddler attends the Day School (Day Care) located in the same building where Husband and I both work.  We've seen the Day School routine at least 100 times: morning playtime; line up for potty before lunch; then they sit in little chairs at little tables and eat lunch.  After lunch, one by one each child gets cleaned up and lays down on a mat with his or her blankie for naptime.

During pre-sleep cuddles, Toddler gave me this version of that same routine (Each "Do you understand?" was punctuated with a  firm pause; Toddler's eyes,  would turn to meet mine, shining brightly in the dark; then he'd look back to the ceiling as he resumed his story):
"We sit on our little chair.  We don't stand on da chair.  We don't run 'round da chair. We sit on the chair and den we eat our food.  Pick up...don' pick up da chair.  Sit it  down.  We eat our food and sit on da little chair.
Do you understand? ...
When the kids toot, they should got to toot in da potty.  When the kids go poo, they need to go poo to da potty.
Do you understand? ...
When da kids poo in a line, they need to whisper real quietly.
Do you understand? ...
I lay down on da mat.  I see a little girl is slipping off da....she is sleeping and da cwocodio (crocodile) is carrying us on his back.  Da cwocodio is carrying us on his back and we should whisper like dis and if  we go poo we should whisper.
Do you understand? Mom.  Mom!  Do you understand?"

Obviously, his teachers ask "Do you understand?" to kindly make sure he gets what he should be doing.   I just wonder what he responds!

-The bit about the chair has been abridged, he talked about "da little chairs" for quite a while!
-He's suddenly stopped calling us "Mommy" and "Daddy" last night.  We have no idea why!  It's a little sad.  On top of it, we cut his hair short and this time there are no curls left.  He looks so much less Toddler-ish that when says "Mom!" so assertively the full effect is that it seems he just jumped forward a full year in just 24 hours!