The Seabourns

Keith Seabourn

Airplane Seats

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You meet very interesting people in airplane seats.

I heard one of our directors say that each morning he picks up a New
Testament or a Jesus Film DVD and prays for it’s new owner. Then
throughout the day, he looks for the new owner that he should give it
to. Who is a divine appointment that God has prepared to receive this
gift?

I thought, hey, that’s a good idea for airplane seatmates. Since I find
myself in an airplane seat frequently, I’ve begun to pray for the person
who will be seated next to me. I pray that God will give us a good
discussion that brings glory to him.

Last week, my seatmate was a Christian from Egypt. He’s been in the U.S.
for 30 years, but comes from a Egyptian Coptic Christian background.
Knowing that he might be a cultural Christian and not a born-again
Christian, we had a very good discussion. I left him with a booklet that
he could explore more fully what it means to be a true Christian.

On my return flight, my seatmate was an attorney from Pensacola. He was
reading Philip Yancey’s Rumors of Another World. That was a great clue.
I was more direct and asked him if he was ready for another world if the
plane didn’t make it to our destination. Yes, he was ready. His eternity
was secure, his walk is alive. We talked for the rest of the flight.
He’s a great brother in the Lord and has been involved in representing
some believers in a difficult situation.

I’m not always bold and brave. Sometimes I wimp out. But sometimes, I
have amazing, exciting conversations.

Yes, airplane seats are very interesting. I wonder if Delta realizes
that their ticketing system is creating divine appointments? When I get
off a plane, I want to make sure that the occupant of the assigned
seating next to me knows someone who truly follows Jesus (me!).

Reality Conundrum

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I had some time this morning to read the recent Time magazine. I found the article Cosmic Conundrum very entertaining. I think a better title would have been Reality Conundrum. It quotes many scholars who are in a conundrum over the realities present in our universe.

It is interesting that scientists faced with design complexity and the anthropic principle are unwilling to seriously consider intelligent design, but are willing to invite someone who postulates that “our universe was manufactured by a race of superintelligent extraterrestrial beings.” Then a leading scholar says this is a “novel perspective on humankind’s role in the universe”. (quote from Martin Rees, astronomer royal of Britain and Cambridge colleague of Stephen’s Hawking’s).

The anthropic principle says that the cosmos is perfectly tuned to support life. Against all odds, the universe is designed “just so.”

I like science. Like 5-time Nobel nominated and 3rd most quoted chemist in the world Dr. Fritz Schaefer, I often look at science and say “So that’s how God did it!” I recently wrote Lessons from the Hunt which delved into scientific and spiritual observations early one morning while deer hunting.

Want to read more? One of the best articles is The Designed ‘Just So’ Universe by Walter L. Bradley, Ph.D.

Want to read a lot more? One of the best websites I know is Origins.

So, on this Thanksgiving morning, I thank God for creating our universe “just so”. Don’t you wish everybody did?

Lessons from the hunt #2

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Another lesson of the hunt is the value of stillness. Deer hunting is about stillness. When walking, walk slow. Walk quiet. When sitting, sit still. Move your eyes not your head. When you do turn your head, turn slowly.

The goal is stillness, even when turning. Even when walking.

After 3 days of hunting, stillness has seeped into my soul. A still soul is sweet. Stillness is comfortable. And comforting.

Deer hunting is a great time to read the Word. I sit in the woods reading the Word. I call it hunting, but the main activity is thinking. It’s a great place to meditate on God’s Word. Read a verse or two, scan the woods and meditate, read, scan/meditate. Works really well, especially since there’s little wildlife this year. Few squirrels, no hawks, no deer!

This year, I chose the book of James. One year I read Acts. Another year I read 1 Corinthians.

I also am reading some Psalms. Psalms read better outdoors. Maybe it’s because David wrote so many living outdoors.

Be still. Read. Meditate. Yes, deer hunting is good for the soul.

Lessons from the hunt #1

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I was deer hunting recently. That’s deer hunting, not deer shooting. There’s a difference. Hunting means looking for, shooting implies seeing. But shooting is not the measurement of success for me.

For me, hunting is a celebration of God’s creation.

My friend Peter commented this morning about how well he’s sleeping. He attributes it to “good friends, outdoors, sitting around the fire telling stories and good exercise.”

Food tastes better. Sleep is better. Life lives better.

We wake up early, eat breakfast, and settle into our spots before it begins to get light.

As it gets just a little lighter, I hear the first bird making its unique chirping call. Then one answers back. Two or three more begin.

Then a different species begins calling. Then a third. God seems to have created birds to begin singing at slightly different times in the mornings. Perhaps like a orchestra conductor bringing instrument sections into the music one-by-one.

Daybreak is more than an orchestra of sounds. It’s an amazing light display.

It moves from dark blacks to grays. As the sky lightens, different colors appear.

The first colors this morning were browns and yellows. The forest floor is covered with brown leaves. The floor seemed to glow at first. Then the yellows of the leaves still on trees. Later the greens appeared.

I recall the physics explanation. Red and yellow light at the lower end of the visible spectrum have less energy and are more refracted, or bent, by the atmosphere. So the first light to hit the ground before sun-up is red and yellow — hence the browns and yellows are the first colors I see.

I think God likes the unique colors of the light he has made. He begins each day displaying them one-by-one.

I know God likes uniqueness because of the trees. There are thousands of trees but no two are exactly alike. Sweetgums, elms, pines, oaks. But no two oaks are exact duplicates. Pines are harder to tell apart, but looking closely, they are unique.

I think God likes unique. It gives me confidence in who I am. In who my children are. In my friends at church. In my co-workers.

A Stunning Saturday Morning

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Richard Wimer’s Wit and Wisdom helps me get my day off to a good start.

I read a story this morning that reminded me of a morning in Nigeria when I zapped our dog with a Stun Gun to break up a dog fight. My first attempt at breaking up the fight with a broom handle had failed. The dogs were rolling around in the wet grass. It was barely daylight on a Saturday morning and I wasn’t thinking too clearly. I grabbed him by his choke chain collar (metal) and zapped his dew-covered body. My hand and arm were numb for quite a while. Sometimes electrical engineers don’t think clearly about conductivity between dew-covered hair and metal choke chains when they are mad at their dogs for fighting at daylight on Saturday mornings!

Taken from http://www.witandwisdom.org/archive/20041027.htm

A friend of a friend purchased a tazer for his wife for protection. What follows is his description of what happened when he tried it on himself to make sure it worked! His account begins:

Dear Friends,

My wife Toni is fond of saying that my last words on this earth will be something akin to, “hey y’all, hold my drink and watch this!” Well, I have outdone myself once again. No doubt you will see this true story chronicled in a LifeTime movie in the near future. Here goes.

Last weekend I spied something at Larry’s Pistol and Pawn that tickled my fancy. (Note: Keep in mind that my “fancy” is easily tickled). I bought something really cool for Toni. The occasion was our 22nd anniversary and was looking for a little something extra for my sweet girl.

What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer gun with a clip. For those of you who are not familiar with this product, it is a less-than-lethal stun gun with two metal prongs designed to incapacitate an assailant with a shock of high-voltage, low amperage electricity while you flee to safety. The effects are supposed to be short lived, with no long-term adverse affect on your assailant, but allowing you adequate time to retreat to safety. You simply jab the prongs into your 250 lb. tattooed assailant, push the button, and it will render him a slobbering, goggle-eyed, muscle-twitching, whimpering, pencil-neck whimp.

If you’ve never seen one of these things in action, then you’re truly missing out – way too cool! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home. I loaded two triple-a batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was so disappointed.

Upon reading the directions (we don’t need no stinkin’ directions), I found much to my chagrin that this particular model would not create an arc between the prongs. How disappointing! I do love fire for effect. I learned that if I pushed the button, however, and pressed it against a metal surface that I’d get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs that I was so looking forward to. I did so. Awesome!!! Sparks, a blue arc of electricity, and a loud pop!!! Yipeeeeee . . I’m easily amused, just for your information, but I have yet to explain to Toni what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave.

Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn’t be all that bad with only two triple-a batteries, etc., etc. There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul), reading the directions (that would be me, not Gracie) and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh and blood target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie for a fraction of a second and thought better of it. She is such a sweet kitty, after all. But, if I was going to give this thing to Toni to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? Was I wrong to think that? Seemed reasonable to me at the time.

So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, Tazer in another. The directions said that a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a loss of bodily control; a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water.

All the while I’m looking at this little device (measuring about 5″ long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference, pretty cute really, and loaded with two itsy, bitsy triple-a batteries) thinking to myself, “no way!” Yes way – trust me, but I’m getting ahead of myself. What happened next is almost beyond description, but I’ll do my best. Those of you who know me well have got a pretty good idea of what followed.

I’m sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side as if to say, “don’t do it buddy,” reasoning that a one-second burst from such a tiny lil’ ole thing couldn’t hurt all that bad (sound, rational thinking under the circumstances, wouldn’t you agree?). I decided to give myself a one-second burst just for the fun of it. (Note: You know, a bad decision is like hindsight – always twenty-twenty. It is so obvious that it was a bad decision after the fact, even though it seemed so right at the time. Don’t ya hate that?)

I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button. !!!!! I’m pretty sure that Jessie Ventura ran in through the front door, picked me up out of that recliner, then body slammed me on the carpet over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, chest on fire, soaking wet, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position.
Gracie was standing over me making meowing sounds I had never heard before, licking my face, undoubtedly thinking to herself, “do it again, do it again!”

(Note: If you ever feel compelled to mug yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution. There is no such thing as a one-second burst when you zap yourself.
You’re not going to let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor. Then, if you’re lucky, you won’t dislodge one of the prongs 1/4″ deep in your thigh like yours truly.

A minute or so later (I can’t be sure, as time was a relative thing at this point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. How did they get there??? My triceps, right thigh and both chest were still twitching. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, as my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. give or take an ounce or two, I’m pretty sure.

Source: Quotes of the Day,
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