Andy Borgmann's Blog

I am pretty sure hell has frozen over. Where do I get this profound theological revelation from. The Colbert Report. The other night, Ted Daeschler of the Center for Systematic Biology & Evolution was Stephen's guest. Now Mr. Daeschler seemed like a nice guy, in fact, he seemed like a genius. Very smart, definitely knew what he was talking about. Except about halfway through his conversation he made a startling comment at passing regarding the fact of evolution.

Now I should take a moment here to say that I am not anti-evolution. I am not totally sure I buy it as it was spoon fed in high school, however, I have no faith dilemma with the concept of evolution. God could have very easily decided to create the world over billions of years through the process of evolution. Genesis should hardly be seen as a scientific explanation of creation, which in my mind leaves the door open for possible scientific explanations to show us the majesty of God the Creator.

But here's my problem. Evolution is not a fact. It isn't even a law. It is a theory. Now theories are based on facts, which is what separates it from a hypothesis. However, theories, by definition are not facts, or else, we would call them facts.

So you might be asking, ok Andy, why has hell frozen over? People have been claiming the truth about evolution for years. Right, but it hit me while watching The Colbert Report that I think scientists have more faith than Christians. Sure, it isn't a faith in Jesus Christ, but it is a faith nonetheless. Faith is defined as being certain of what we do not see. Now I know many Christians who profess to have faith, but their belief in God hardly has an unfailing certainty day after day (and that's ok, God lets us doubt). But when you look at the facts and the "gaps" that make up the theory of evolution, there is far more uncertainty than certainty. Yet, scientists like Mr. (Dr.?) Daeschler speak with absolute certainty in the factual belief that evolution is true, thus it has led me to believe that science is more faithful than religion.

My new favorite word is truthiness, which I have to also give credit to Stephen Colbert for inventing (despite attempts of the liberal media to take the credit away from him ;-). But Stephen defines truthiness (and I am paraphrasing) as the disregard of fact for what "feels" true. And that is why Mr. Daeschler's statements speak to the truthiness of evolution.

Yesterday I was watching VH1. Which, on a side note, when did VH1 become cool? When I was in high school, VH1 was for all the 80s and early 90s music that no one listened to anymore. Now, they are usually at the cutting edge of releasing new, good music. But I digress(and fairly early in the post I might add).

Anyways, while watching VH1, they played four songs in a row (of which I might have the order confused). Nickelback's "Savin' Me," Natasha Bedingfield's "Single", Daniel Powter's "Bad Day," and then finally The All American Rejects "Move Along." It was after this that I realized, VH1 has become the station that speaks for the 20-somethings.

Why you ask? I think those four songs encapsulate what it feels like to be post-graduate, single and in your 20's. Bedingfield's music video was amazing. Why? Because in one attempt, she expressed lyrically how great it was to be single, and through the actual video itself, the emptiness with being single. In fact, it caught me off guard at first. I was sitting there thinking, does she like being single or not? And then it hit me, just like every other single, 20-year old, the answer to that question depends on the day.

Nickelback, like so much of its music, does a great job of reminding us all that life is short and we are all in need of saving.

Powter's "Bad Day" should be the theme song of the 20s (in fact I might create a blog just about that another day). I know I feel like I wake up every morning, whether good or bad, and there is just something about it that is lonely and missing. But this loneliness isn't like depressive loneliness that just consumes you. No, it is far more subtle. Like the video portrays. It seems like this loneliness is there simply because you miss something by a half hour each day. Its so close. Its just not there.

"Move Along" barely needs an explanation. It's that obvious. From the moment we're born to the moment we die, humanity is marked with this innate ability to just move along. Not thinking about what is going on. Not thinking about why I am longing for the next stage of life, but just merely running to that stage as fast as I possibly can. When I was in college, all I could think about was getting out in the real world and getting a job. Now that I am there, all i seem to be able to think about is buying a condo and starting a family.

John Eldredge's book "A Journey of Desire" speaks so clearly to this. We need to become people who are content with where we are at. As cheesy as it sounds, life isn't about the destination, but rather the journey, and Who we experienced that journey with. Yet most of us will go through life and reach the end of our countdown (Nickelback reference) and realize that we were so focused on the destinations, we missed what makes life worth living. So maybe VH1 isn't speaking for the 20-somethings, maybe VH1 is speaking for every stage in life (take that MTV!)

I love a good adventure. Although, unlike most people who like adventure, I hate walking. It's too slow. Most of my adventures come in a car. Sometimes they are quite calculated adventures, sometimes they are, lets say, slightly more random.

Yesterday I drove back from Hilton Head Island with my friends CJ & Andrea. What made this journey different, besides the baby being tagged along, was CJ's newest toy: a GPS mapping device. This thing was sweet. It could tell you anything you wanted to know: eating locations, altitude, speed, distance to destination, your future income (ok, not that). But what I realized on the way home is that it has the ability to take the fun out of life. Why? Because it negates the need to take a U-turn.

I don't take the standard way home from Hilton Head (which is US-278 straight out to I-95 and then on to I-16). Ever since we were younger we took a shortcut through local roads. However, I only make the trip to Hilton Head once every other year or so, so I don't always "remember the way". Usually this means I have to "turn around" at some point (thus negating the shortcut, but still adding to the adventure). So sure enough, this year, I didn't do the shortcut right, but instead of turning around we just let "Mary Magellan" (as we affectionally called her) reroute us and on we went. Now I didn't balk too much as this idea (in fact I kind of requested it) because life changes when you have a child with you and you value certainty more than adventure. But that is when it hit me, full lives require a willingness to make u-turns.

Sometimes u-turns aren't necessary. Sometimes God has the ability to re-route us to where we need to be with out the harshness of coming full circle back around to where we started. But sometimes, the only way to get on with life is by making a u-turn. Sometimes it is repenting from actions that shouldn't have been in our life to begin with. Sometimes it means treating people better than we've been treating them for years. And, sometimes it just means admitting decisions made were not the best, this doesn't mean they were "wrong", they just didn't yield to their expectation. It is these moments that one must take a hard look in the mirror and at one's surrounding and be willing to say, well, it's time I turn back around. But it is also these moments that should be seen as the adventure that we call everyday life. And being the adventure addict that I am, I am glad life takes a u-turn from time to time.

Today I traveled from the condo on Hilton Head Island to my Grandmother's place on Skidaway Island. According to the Great Circle Map, the distance from the condo to my Grandmother's is 19 miles as the bird flies (and yes I am a big enough geek to get the exact coordinates to figure that out). Yet, according to maps.google.com the travel distance is 56 miles and takes an hour and a half to drive (which it did).

So Andy's what's your point? Are you just complaining about the fact you had to go visit your grandma. Absolutely not! Visiting her was worth the journey. As I was driving along the local roads through South Carolina it hit me how bad the journey the Israelites made from Egypt to the "Promised Land" must have been. And you are probably thinking, wow, that point was lame. Thanks for wasting my time on the Blog. Britney being a good mom, sure, that was crazy, but at least you had a point (if you don't know what I am talking about read the next post).

But here's the real point. God still felt that making them go through that trip for 40 years was worth leaving the life they had in Egypt. And all along that trip, the recurring theme He had for them was remembrance. Everything was remember the way it was in Egypt, don't forget what happened to you, don't forget the oppression. And all they kept complaining about was the sun and the journey. Now I have been to the desert of their wandering and I can tell you, I couldn't last out there in an air conditioned bus, so I sympathize with their complaints. But the point is that God uses journeys like these because they constantly cause us to remember where He has taken us from. If the Israelites hopped right over to the Promised Land, they would just get on with life failing to reflect on what God has done for them. And frankly, with the high-pace life has on all of us, I think it would do us all a lot of good for us to have these journeys in our life. And while on the journey, it can be awfully frustrating, in the end, it is all about the journey of life...whether in the wilderness or on SC-170.

All right, I will let you take a second to swallow that. I know it might seem hard, but give me the benefit of the doubt for a second.

I just spent a week with the beautiful Jadyn Elise Mills. Ohh what fun we had! Playing on the beach and eating sand. Being dunked underwater in the pool. Waking up at 6 am, only because she wanted some attention, and after she was pulled into bed with me would just fall back asleep on my chest. This week of pseudo-parenting was, believe it or not, a nice break from my single 20s that have a tendency to be very self-centered and all about "my schedule."

But all this parenting has got me thinking, I don't think Britney is that bad of a mom. (Disclaimer: I am not the typical 20-year old male that before Britney had a child thought she was somewhat of a modern day goddess. For the most part, I don't like her music. I don't like her "image." And while I will admit she is very attractive, I don't think the way she flaunted that, especially for young girls, is very good for society. But I digress.) Now, of course, Britney doesn't hold a candle to the amazing mother Andrea is! But then again, who could? Some moms are coming to her defense and saying, sure she's not perfect, but cut her some slack. They all say, just as I learned this week, the mistakes we all make in parenting aren't getting critiqued everywhere we go. No press this week covered as a momentary lapse in my concentration allowed Jadyn to slam her face into the coffee table. Sure, I am not encouraging it, but she's a baby, things like that happen. If we all had the press in our face, CPS would be after all of us.

But I want to go a step further and applaud her. And this is where I know you are going to think I am crazy. Britney has not out-sourced parenting (at least not yet). I have never seen a celebrity mother photographed with her baby as much, and in the "mundane settings of life" (i.e. the grocery store) like Britney has been. And for that I congratulate her. She certainly has the money. She certainly has the "things to do" besides raising a child. Yet for the time being, she has turned from the temptation so many of her Hollywood cohorts, and a lot of American moms, have succumb to - which is ignoring their child and letting someone else raise them. For that, Britney, I say, thank you for setting a good example (maybe the first time) for parents everywhere. Despite your inequities, you have proven to be a good mom!

As we speak, I am watching the joint press conference between Bush and Blair. Bush has just made the comment that (and I am paraphrasing) that the insurgents in Iraq don't fight a conventional war and don't play by the rules. It was at this moment I wanted Bush to turn to Blair and say, "just like we did 225 years ago against the British."

Before I get further into this conversation, I need to give the disclaimer that I am a supporter of the Iraq war. I have been to the Middle East, I have seen the injustices done from the aristocracy, and Jesus challenges all of his followers to stick up for the oppressed. Any ruler who kills hundreds of thousands of his own people qualifies as an oppressor in my book and I am proud to be a part of a country who seeks justice in the world. I am not saying I think this is why Bush went, for all I know it was all about oil, but that doesn't change the fact that in the end Iraq will be a better place for Iraqi people, and for that I say the mission will be worth it.

But I digress. While there are many things I find despicable about the Middle East insurgency and terrorism, I can't say their methods are one of them. Why you ask? Becuase as an American, we invented the concept of unconventional warfare. Now I don't like the idea of women, children and civilians being targeted anymore than the next guy. But at the same time, logic will not allow for me to say that it is a barbaric act of war because to do so would mean I would have to admit that the American Revolution was a barbaric act of war. We were the ones who refused to line up on an open field to be slaughtered. We fought dirty by hiding in the woods, and by using our surroundings to our advantage. But ultimately, if it weren't for the American Revolution, the world would be a far different place. And for all of her faults, I believe America has brought 10 times (ok an expression) more good to the world. None of this would happen of course unless the Colonies took on an act of war that was not accepted at the time.

So thus, it isn't the methods of war that I feel make it barbaric - as war by definition is barbaric in all circumstances and in any method (but barbarism is sometimes necessary). Rather, what I feel makes the insurgents beyond barbaric is what they are fighting for. They are fighting for oppression. They would rather be led by a mad-man than an elected (still imperfect) government. It isn't even the rejection of democracy that bothers me, as I know some might find this as a shock, but democracy is not the answer for everybody (sorry W.). However, they are rejecting justice. Have a monarchy. Have a dictatorship. Have whatever works. But above all, have peace, justice, and love!

As CJ cries out "boring" and switches the channel to the NBA game, I find myself going back to a place every time I descend from the clouds after a long flight and touch ground in Frankfurt, Germany, or Amsterdam. It amazes me that 50 years ago, touching down at the exact same place would be the same as touching down in Baghdad today. But in such a short time, so much can change. In the same way, after 225 years, after a horribly bloody and unconventional war, Bush & Blair, America & England, stand united together at two podiums unified in the common cause of pursuing justice and eventual peace. For that I am proud, and for that I hope Iraq will one day be like the British.