Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
I can’t find a clip of it but recently President Biden was speaking about the new chip deal going on in the government. He said the technology has the capacity to make a million billion decisions per second. I don’t know how many a million billion is but I know it’s a lot!
It got me thinking about my own decision-making abilities. I’ll be honest. A million billion is awesome, but I’d be happy making 3 or 4 solid decisions per day. If I lay down tonight and can think of a few great decisions I made, I’ll go to bed happy. But that begs the question: what time am I going to bed?
SO. MANY. TOUGH. DECISIONS.
A million billion decisions per second!? Gosh. I guess the robots are going to take over as soon as they make that decision… which could be any second now.
It was one of those moments where I was in the right place at the right time. There I was sitting in my camper in a random state park in Texas, remembering I have an iPod full of songs not found anywhere else in the world. These unique, one-of-a-kind songs come from my obsession with recording live music when I was at concerts in college and beyond. I used my 8mm video camera (before cell phones had cameras!) and just hit record, holding it by my side… because I LOVE live music. There’s just something about a song performed live that sometimes, maybe most of the time, doesn’t come through in the studio version of the same song.
One performance I recorded was by Jars of Clay from over 20 years ago. At this concert on the campus of Florida State, they did a mashup of their 90s song “Worlds Apart” with one from what was their most recent album at the time, Redemption Songs, called “Hiding Place.” Somehow I got the song from an 8mm video tape into my iPod. Of course, there are a lot of other live performances I transferred, though I can’t really remember how. It’s such old technology now!
In the camper, I plugged the iPod into the camper sound system and just felt such a blessing come over me as the medley played. It’s a great blend of asking God to take my world– everything I think I know– apart while taking Jesus as my hiding place against….well, against everything. “Take my world apart” is such an applicable part of the lyrics. Now, almost more than ever, I want God to disassemble my selfish desires. Then rebuild. Renew. Recreate. Make a new mind for me. A more willing heart. “Christ, my hiding place.” It’s a lot like that song from Chris Rice (also from the 90s) called “Untitled Hymn (Come To Jesus)”… come to Jesus and live. When things are crazy, life seems upside down, I can find rescue, shelter, safety, comfort, protection, provision, security, refuge… by bringing all my fears and burdens to Jesus.
Such a simple thought. Radical, but not complicated. I heard this Jars of Clay performance at the perfect time while I’m camping in Texas. Contemplating the future, while knowing my past isn’t perfect but it’s forgiven. Temptations are everywhere. Sin is common. But with Christ, I (and we) have a place to hide. All I need to do is, the best I know how, hide in Christ and pray He takes what I think I know, apart.
On a lighter note, ‘praise and worship’ music from the 90s was a little cheesy. At least I thought it was when I was a cool, hip teen during that decade. But what about the music coming from bands like Jars of Clay (and DCTalk, of course)? I don’t know if there was a better decade for Christian rock/mainstream music than the 90s. They made Christian music cool, and made cool Christian music.
That’s why on this random day in a Texas state park, I’m grateful for old technology and music that reminds me of the refuge Christ is for all of us.
This has been an exceptional season of America’s Got Talent. I loved watching the talented acts while laughing and nodding along with the judges reviews of each one. But still, the best has GOT to be The Mayyas. They are the most Vegas-y act in the final 11 contestants, and to pick a second most fitting for Las Vegas I’d go with Metaphysic. The incredible technology is mind-blowing. But The Mayyas… goodness gracious. No matter what I’m doing, I don’t want to look away for fear I’ll miss something that astounds me.
As for pure talent and skill, Avery Dixon. He’s amazing on the saxophone. A close second as a single person act I’d go with Kristy Sellars, the pole dancer, who’s so much more than what we normally think of pole dancing.
I also really like Yu Hojin, although is performance in the finale was a little confusing. I thought there must’ve been some technical hiccups with the lighting or something. The area where he was performing the magic was dark (a table in front of him) and the background imagery was so busy I was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. But I like him a lot, just not sure his magic is big enough for Vegas.
I’m going with the Mayyas. From all the acts left, they’re the ones I would pay to see in Vegas. On top of that, I’d go to Vegas just to see them! Voting is closed now and the winner of this season is going to be announced tonight. Crossing my fingers for you, ladies!
Texas. Is. Beautiful. Somewhere between Mother Neff State Park and Dinosaur Valley State Park (recaps here) the views changed to this beautiful copper landscape that I can’t get enough of. Ranches and farms as big as from me to the horizon. Cows, horses, donkeys, goats. And larger than life wind turbines as far as the eye can see. Here are a few pictures from the road.
This is a question I was asked recently when I was riding my bike one evening in a Texas state park. It was very dark, as most state parks are, and my bike was lit up all over the place. There’s a headlight, taillight, and bright lights on the wheels. I also had a headlamp on because I was returning from trying night photos. It was a full moon so the shots didn’t come out as good as I was hoping.
But still cool, right? This was an unexpected gem, called Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas. There were some drawbacks I’ll talk about in another post but overall, I loved the park. So anyway, I’m returning to the camper which is a 3/4 of a mile bike ride. There was a guy and his two young kids walking in the road without any flashlights. As I passed, the young boy asked, “Who ARE you?”
I’m socially awkward, I’ll admit. Often times when I am approaching people I don’t know I tell myself, “Be ready to answer any questions!” What I’ve learned as I’ve been camping around the southeast (recaps here), I’ll get asked the most unexpected questions or people will say things I didn’t expect. I’m not quick on my feet in those moments, unfortunately. I always come up with great responses 5 hours later.
I should’ve answered, “Good question,” or “Who are YOU?” or “I’m Batman.” Anything would have been better than what I did… I didn’t answer at all! I just rode right by. Maybe it added to the mystery of who this superhero of a guy is (me, I’m talking about me). I had ridden around the night before with all the bike lights going because I was scouting out where I wanted to try my night photos. No exaggeration, my bike gets comments 95% of the time, especially when there are kiddos around. So this was the second night, maybe the guy with the colorful bike was a mystery among the campers here. I don’t know.
But I know this… I never have the right response at the right time. Maybe next time I’ll have a good answer, or ANY answer, next time.
Out of the Wilderness 