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J. Daniel Ashton

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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, —Ecclesiastes 9:10a NIV
The LORD God has told us what is right and what he demands:
"See that justice is done,
let mercy be your first concern,
and humbly obey your God." —Micah 6:8, CEV
With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment.
Always let Him lead you, and He will clear the road for you to follow. —Proverbs 3:5,6 CEV

see also — My Homepage

My Photo
Name: Daniel Ashton
Location: Germantown, Maryland, United States


Any links with a dashed underscore probably point to Amazon.com

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

We have long since made clear…

…that a state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens.—Justice O'Connor

and again

For this Nation to remain true to the ideals symbolized by its flag, it must not wield the tools of tyrants even to resist an assault by the forces of tyranny.—Justice Stevens

Oh Brother!

Hey everyone, my brother Ted just posted his first Griddler. Look for puzzles by ashted.

And Vicki (Vics) posted a lovely multi-griddler recently.

Sunday, June 27, 2004

What is love?

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

When self is merged in Christ, love springs forth spontaneously. — COL, p. 384

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

Sunday, June 20, 2004

Our Father Likes for Us to Ask

Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear. — Isaiah 65:24, NIV

I have a difficult time understanding something about God, and it's partly because of the way my parents are. They told me this story about their early married life, which nicely illustrates the difficulty.
One day my mother decided to bake a surprise for my father. She knew that he loved cream horns (yum!) and found a recipe. She set to work, poured her heart into it, and timed it perfectly. The pastry was almost ready when he got home. But before she could deliver the gift, he blurted out "You know what? I really want a cream horn!"

She got so mad that she nearly hit him with it. His ill-timed request took the joy out of her surprise.
The same thing happens with me and my son William. For example, yesterday our family had been at church all afternoon playing chamber music with friends. We were all tired, hot and thirsty. As we drove away from the church I decided to stop in the nearby town of Ashton (neat, eh?) for Slushees. Not a quarter mile down the road William asked "Can we get Slushees?"

Ugh! I did not want to be asked for this gift! We went home thirsty.

As you can imagine, this makes it very difficult for me to grasp how much God likes to be asked. But God has very clearly stated "Ask and it will be given to you;" and "For everyone who asks receives." Read the entire passage. It ends with the absolute promise of the Holy Spirit given as a gift to anyone who asks!

On Father's Day

It's hard to get started on a journal entry when there are too many ideas at the ready. I could write about how my day has started: Pecan-bon and coffee :-) , the cards I've gotten from Vicki and the kids and the cats(‽). I could write about what I anticipate doing with my day. This is the kind of free-form day that a journalist (in the most literal sense of journal) should feed on: no specific appointments, perfect weather, a good wireless connection so I can sit outside watching William trying in-line skates for the first time.

I've taken a bunch of pictures and several movie clips of William. Vicki is helping him remove his skates now, and Beth will get a chance to try.

I'm sitting on the front steps with my back to the door. Socks came to the door behind me, and mewed loud enough for me to hear her. I let her out, and watched as she wandered among Vicki's plantings nearby, perhaps awakening memories of her long-distant past as an unloved outdoor cat. The robin that nests under our eaves made loud and repeated expression of her discomfort with our proximity. A catbird came to harangue Socks, but I listened in vain for it to mew.

Our friend De De loaned her in-line skates to William recently, hence this morning's excitement. I went to the shed to get an outdoor chair (must remember to latch the gate again, since I locked myself out and had to walk around the back way) and got back to find Beth being helped along by both Vicki and William. Time to take more pictures.

Saturday, June 19, 2004

Interrobang

Did you know you can use an interrobang in HTML‽

Ghandi/Tolstoy Connection?

The Kingdom Of God Is Within You | Metafilter

Also search down for the quote from C. S. Lewis.

Line-up



From Kodak's Birdcam

Church? Auditorium?

I got another announcement today regarding members of the Washington Symphonic Brass playing a brass and organ concert this Monday evening. I skipped their last concert because I knew some of the music, Carmina Burana in specific, to be blatantly secular, and all of the venues were dedicated church sanctuaries.

I perceive that very few Americans feel concern with the performance of secular music in a dedicated sanctuary. Even moderately conservative Christians, such as the conductor of my college symphony, feel nothing wrong with performing music of, for example, Gershwin, in a sanctuary.

Why do I see this as a problem?

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Firefox

A new, faster version of Firefox is out. It's cool!! Try it!!

(Did you know that Firefox is another name for the Red Panda?)

Photos of Chrysler Exchange

On June 2 we traded in our Chrysler PT Cruiser in exchange for a Chrysler Town & Country. I hope to write a longer description of the event someday soon, but for now you can see a few pictures.

Clicking on the big picture takes you to the next picture. Hovering over the big picture or a thumbnail should display a brief description.

Monday, June 14, 2004

AskOxford: He, She, or They?

AskOxford: He, She, or They?

And another opinion: He, she, they?

Friday, June 11, 2004

What is a web log, really?

PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Mealtime



from Kodak's Birdcam

Can we have one of these? Please?

OK, two?


Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Family Portrait


From Kodak's Birdcam

If you look closely you can identify all five chicks.

i.e., e.g.

…and that indescribably French phrase (And I learned how to code abbreviations. Too cool!) I used to think that just knowing etc. and how to spell and pronounce * was cool.

Hey, look! Acronyms work too!
I'm working on CADE, a part of the huge IRS modernization effort.
For those of you using outdated browsers, try something more standards-compliant, such as Mozilla Firefox. Firefox shows a dotted line under abbreviations and acronyms, and displays the long form of the expression when you hover over it.

Wait for it…

Oh rest in the Lord,
wait patiently for him
  and He shall give thee
  thy heart’s desires.
Commit thy way unto Him,
and trust in Him,
and fret not thyself because
  of evil-doers.
— Elias, Mendelssohn
Do not fret because of evil men
  or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
  like green plants they will soon die away.

Trust in the LORD and do good;
  dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
  and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD ;
  trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
  the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;…
— beginning of Psalm 37, NIV
  
I waited for the Lord,
He inclined unto me,
He heard my complaint;
O blessed are they that hope
  and trust in the Lord.
— Hymn of Praise, Mendelssohn
I waited patiently for the LORD;
  he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
  out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
  and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
  a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
  and put their trust in the LORD .

Blessed is the man
  who makes the LORD his trust,…
— beginning of Psalm 40, NIV

Friday, June 04, 2004

Planet? Planetoid? Space Trash?

Thursday, June 03, 2004

No thanks, I'm not hungry


from Kodak's Birdcam.