"Familiarity Breeds Contempt" - origins?

This is going to be a nightmarish weekend for me. have to rush out 2 major papers plus 1 smaller one. I cannot recall where I read it. The following is something which is brewing in my mind. It tells the origin of the saying: "Familarity breeds contempt" which I thought has a nice logical flow. Here is what I can piece together the ideas gleaned.

"Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity.
Unfamiliarity breeds ignorance.
Ignorance breeds Avoidance
Avoidance breeds Contempt."

That's how we get Familiarity breeds Contempt!

Cold ...... very cold indeed..

First it was the rain. Then comes nice pleasant snow. Then comes the nice sunlight that cast a pretty natural spotlight on the pretty snowcovered buildings and cars. However the scene is deceptive. The temperature is below -6 degrees celsius. Windchill is expected to drive the temperatures to below -20 degrees! RESULT: Freezing cold. My fingers, my toes and my hands were really frozen. My gloves do not seem to help at all. Commentators on the radio at News1130 AM, continues to advise motorists to avoid using hot water to melt the snow to their car keyholes, as it will re-freeze pretty quickly. We are thankful that our car is not parked out in the open to collect snow and ice!

I guess the rest of Canada is laughing at those of us in Vancouver. Some even made a welcoming statement that Vancouver is finally a Canadian city. For a city that has prided itself as being the warmest city in the whole of Canada, this Winter is going to break records in terms of cold and snow. Wednesday is coming. So will snow.

I have finished NT Wright's voluminous 700+ book: "Jesus and the Victory of God". Borrowed another 7 books to write a paper on Jesus and the parables. At the same time, I need to engage theologically with a film of which I have chosen "Gospel of John." While the outside looks like a giant ice-cube, inside the warm apartment, I am frantically trying to write my papers. One down. Four more to go.

Sigh. I've got a night class. Despite the cold, I need to go. If only I can have a remote camera, then I can do remote monitoring and studying. But no way. The class discussions are super! Better go.

Windchill -10C

Snow continues to fall. Traveling on the roads tonight will be dangerous as the snow freezes into ice.

Staying home

It is a snowstorm. UBC Vancouver is closed because of the campus wide power outage. Regent College and VST is closed. Most post-secondary schools are closed. We have to reason with our kids that even if we can successfully maneuver our car to their school, we have to think about the return trip. Despite their pleas, we decided to stay home.

Seems like almost the entire city is on a standstill. Without power and long delays with all kinds of transportation, it is much safer to stay home. Moreover, the current civil services are already maxed out. Firstly, we avoid becoming another statistic in the accident prone snowy conditions. Secondly, we can enjoy the nice and clean fluffy snow falling all over. Seems like God is giving us a nice early Christmas snowfall. More news available at the links below:

1) "Schools, roads closed after snowfall"
2) "Snow causes flight delays"
3) "Pile-ups, emergencies plague snow-struck B.C."
4) "Say it ain't snow! B.C. blanketed"
5) "Lights are off"
6) "News AM 1130 Storm Watch"



ks

Snowfall in Vancouver (Pictures)

NovDec06

Christmas is only 30 days away. But snow comes early.

Vancouver braces for snowstorm

As flurries come down the UBC Campus, it is nice to think of Christmas as it is exactly 30 days from now. Looking out of my apartment, cars and roads are filled with nice fluffy snow. Pretty sight indeed. Makes me want to stay home and have a nice cup of Hot Chocolate. Well, my Sabbath rest has begun. We watched TV as a family. "Miss Congeniality" is a good and hearty movie to watch. It is great to have a rest day even though I have 4 more papers to submit by early December.

They forgave because Christ forgives

Someone sent me a touching article. It is one piece of news not usually reported by the major news agencies. I searched Google News and hardly any of the major news feeds reported on this. On Oct 29,2005, some Muslim men brutally beheaded three young girls attending attending a Christian school in Indonesia. Here is an excerpt from CBN News

Difficult as it is, Yarni's father and the parents of Alfita and Teressia have released forgiveness to the murderers of their daughters. They believe that it is God who will judge them.

Markus Sambuwe, the father of one of the girls, remarked," I am really angry, but the Holy Spirit touched my heart and changed me. I forgive them just as Jesus has forgiven my sins."

Several suspects have been arrested in the Christian school girl beheadings, but just a week after those brutal murders, two other Christian girls were shot by snipers.

While tensions remain high here, so far, Christians are remaining true to their faith. They are responding in a spirit of forgiveness and restraint, by turning the other cheek.

The road to peace and goodwill is never an eye for an eye. It is forgiveness. The parents were seen crying as they forgave the murderers. It is gut-wrenching and it reminds me how those who forgave no longer feels imprisoned by hatred or vengeance. Instead, they are liberated to love. The murders are utterly cruel and disgusting. The forgiveness is deeply moving.

May such acts accelerate a sense of forgiveness as well for others practicing their religions. Without forgiveness from all, there can never be peace.