Terry Pruitt's Blog

Matthew 13:1 : So Jesus picked a place of nature to teach. I think the shore might have made a nice place to gather with the sloping hill. Matthew 13:2 : Where did the crowds come from? Were they from the villages in the region or did they come from a distance? In the next chapter Matthew 14: the people are not close enough to their own homes to get food so they must not from the immediate vicinity, though of course there may have people from near and far. Matthew 13:3 : So the method of teaching in parables is established as both a method and a parable about teaching with parables. Recursive thinking, and for me recursive humor. The attention getting device of the word "Behold". The parable is about listening and the teacher wants to get the attention of his audience. Again recursive thinking. He introduces the character in the parable, the sower. His action is sowing. Who is the sower? Is it anyone who preaches or teaches the word of God or i...

Amanda is autistic and articulate, articulate at the keyboard. She does not speak except through the aid of her computer. The Wired article on her is fascinating . You might want to check it out. More important than Wired coverage is Amanda's thoughts. She understands herself quite well and might give you a thing or two to think about. Her blog, Ballastexistenz, is as sophisticated on the topic she covers as any other blog I have read. I don't think the Wired article links you to her blog, but to the YouTube video that has made her famous. By the way, Ballastexistenz as a name for her blog is quite sophisticated too. You might want to check out what the name means. If you don't get it, she does. Our culture has a stories such as the Ugly Duckling, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and the Disney version of The Little Mermaid that tell us that difference and being a misfit is common and acceptable fact of life. However, when the difference is something society can e...

There is an article in the March 24, 2008 edition of Time magazine by John Cloud called Synthetic Authenticity . In this article the author talks about the ideas that what consumers are now purchasing is an experience, not a product. The explanation is that Walmart sells all products as a commodity. Starbucks sells an experience. You get the 98 cents cup of coffee or you can buy the $3.69 Italian coffee experience. I'm just finishing up my trip to Hawaii here and one of the things that impressed me is the difference of my experience. I saw both ends of the Hawaii spectrum. I visited both Waikiki to experience the packaged Hawaii, neat Hawaii and visited Volcano National Park (VNP). Just outside of Volcano National Park is a small town called Volcano or Volcano Village. If you Google the place you get Volcano, HI . If you look for the sign it says Volcano Village. It is the same place. I found that Volcano Village genuinely welcomes tourists. I was looking to not...