Aargh!

Okay, so I really, *really* meant to blog tonight!

I know, my life has been crazy hectic of late (the fires being only one of the reasons for that), but tonight I had a night off and I wanted to blog and then . . .

And then . . .

Just after 7 p.m. my lights flickered . . . and went out.

Then they flickered again . . . and went out again.

Blackout!

Power failure!

It’s the first time in a year or two, but tonight my area of El Cajon went dark. Not even the nearby streetlights were working.

And I’ve spent the last three hours killing time by candlelight, bored out of my gourd.

(It’s not like a hundred years ago when there were no blogs and everyone was used to candlelight and it would have been business as usual.)

I was just starting to blog this fact from my iPhone when the power suddenly came back on, and I decided to switch over to my computer (while it lasts).

Anyway, just wanted to say that I haven’t forgotten y’all, and I hope to be back to blogging full strength soon.

Later!

Jimmy

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

28 thoughts on “Aargh!”

  1. Jimmy,
    Don’t worry, I’m sure everyone understands.
    I don’t mean to be rude, but I hope you won’t mind if I mention that boredom is generally a symptom of failing to do whatever God wants of you at the moment. Perhaps this was a time to devote to prayer by candlelight for a few hours.
    Or maybe you did do whatever God wanted of you in those three hours and you are using the terms “bored” and “killing time” loosely. Obviously I can’t know.

  2. I’m just thankful that you seem to have dodged the worst of the fires. It is kind of ironic, though, that with the flames terrorising the state and all, that you would turn to a burning object for light.
    Still, if you do find yourself bored, sitting around in the dark, then what better time is there to brush up on the ol’ writings of H.P. Lovecraft! What better way to pass those long, lonesome, lightless hours of the night, than by reading tales of supreme cosmic dread? I, for one, would recommend that you start with “The Whisperer in the Darkness” — that one is always good when you find yourself alone in a dark, shadow-sunken house late at night.
    Alternatively, have you ever looked into purchasing a generator, or a flashlight?

  4. How frustrating.
    But so funny to me that you could blog by iPhone. And yes, times like that are good for realizing how “plugged in” we all are and don’t realize it.

  6. > I don’t mean to be rude, but I hope you won’t mind if I mention that boredom is
    > generally a symptom of failing to do whatever God wants of you at the moment.
    > Perhaps this was a time to devote to prayer by candlelight for a few hours.
    >
    > Or maybe you did do whatever God wanted of you in those three hours and you are
    > using the terms “bored” and “killing time” loosely. Obviously I can’t know.
    J.R.,
    I was going to say the same thing. Sometimes I find myself at my computer doing nothing in particular (e.g., idle web-surfing), rather than doing something I know I should be doing.
    One Lent, I actually gave up using a computer during my non-work hours (I’m a computer programmer), and it was amazing how much time I had on my hands (and how many emails were waiting in my Inbox).

  7. Jimmy,
    I will be in the San Diego area this week and I was wondering where I can find a Tridentine Mass for the twenty fourth Sunday after Pentecost.
    Could you please recommend a Tridentine Mass that you have assisted at in the San Diego area. Preferab;y a traditional looking and beautiful church, maybe an old mission church.
    Thank you, and God bless you.
    Dan

  8. Well, we thought something had happened to you till we heard you on CA last night. Glad you are ok, sorry about the black out and fires!
    We have fun when the lights go out, but of course, there are several of us…not one. Good time to catch up on reading.

  9. Well I’m here to tell you that doing God’s will can be extremely boring at times. My vocation involves laundry for 8 people week after week, dirty dishes, cleaning bathrooms, etc. I do it because it is part of my job description, but I find these tasks tedious and boring. But if you want to tell me that if we’re bored we must not be doing God’s will I’m willing to stop doing these tasks and do something that interests me more! (Offering up the tedium may make it more effective work, but not less boring.)

  13. I don’t mean to be rude, but I hope you won’t mind if I mention that boredom is generally a symptom of failing to do whatever God wants of you at the moment.

    Says who? What if what God wants you to do at the moment is to carry the cross of boredom?

  15. Says who? What if what God wants you to do at the moment is to carry the cross of boredom?
    Great one SDG…I’ll have to use that on my wife next time she complains that I’m talking too much. 🙂

  16. Says who? What if what God wants you to do at the moment is to carry the cross of boredom?
    SDG,
    J.R. Stoodley does have a point.
    Have you ever heard of the 7 Deadly Sins?
    In particular, that of sloth?
    Boredom could well be a variant.

  18. Jimmy,
    We don’t get Catholic Answers Live in my area anymore. And you don’t seem to answer many questions on the EWTN Q&A Apologetics forum nowadays. Given that you’re such an excellent apologist (using common, yet concise, language) and that you’re not a fey dandy like so many of the American clergy, I hope you’ll write more about the essentials of Christianity. We need a counterpoint to Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, etc…

  19. Monica and SDG,
    There is a difference between tedium and boredom, or at least there can be. As I said it is possible Jimmy is using the word in a loose way. Sometimes we are called to do tedious taskes or even wait around doing nothing physically and if we use the time to pray perhaps experiencing dryness and distracion.
    However, the classic “bored out of my mind” and “wasting time” ideas that Jimmy seems to suggest are a symptom of not using the opportunity of the moment. Certainly we should never waste time. We may be forced to fill it with something we had not planned, and that something may not be fun, but there is never an occasion to just sit around being bored.
    Again, I don’t mean to be at all judgemental. For all I know Jimmy didn’t mean what he suggests to my mind, and in any case I’ve done tons of stuff worse than missing an opportunity like that provided by the blackout. I just think this is a useful thing to think about for anyone it hasn’t occured to yet. If you ever find yourself idle and bored think “what does God want me to do right now” and then to the best of your knowledge do it.

  20. Additionally I should mention that according to St. John of the Cross there is the phenominon of the Dark Night of the Soul (or the dark night of the sences at least, I have only read a few parts of the book) where you have lost all desire to do anything and in that utter stillness of will experience a kind of contemplation. Or something like that. I don’t fully understand the concept, but in any case it’s not what we are talking about here. I just figured I’d mention it because it is in some ways similar to the attitude I was criticizing.

  22. Great one SDG…I’ll have to use that on my wife next time she complains that I’m talking too much. 🙂

    The only problem, DJ, is that while it may be God’s will for your wife to carry the cross of boredom, it does not follow that it is His will for you to inflict it upon her. :‑)

    Have you ever heard of the 7 Deadly Sins? In particular, that of sloth? Boredom could well be a variant.

    No, it could not. The most it could be is a possible side effect, but not necessarily.
    Boredom is an emotional state of mind, not an act — though it may, or may not, result from choices or from failures to choose. It is not and cannot itself be a sin, and can potentially come about through no fault of one’s own.
    As Stoodley realizes, we should be careful about diagnosing others with deadly sins.

    If you ever find yourself idle and bored think “what does God want me to do right now” and then to the best of your knowledge do it.

    Always, always good advice. Not being rhetorical here. Always do this. It is the path to peace.

  25. Sven – You can also go to iTunes and type in Catholic Answers and get 10 hours of podcasts a week for free. I listed to Jimmy during my commute.

  26. It is a sad thing in our day and age that boredom is seen to be inversely proportional to the amount of noise to which we expose ourselves.

  27. Aristotle: agreed.
    Except for the case of my poor wife who has to listen to me..then its directly proportional. 🙂

  28. I have noticed for the last week or so only the first post is showing. Anyone else having that issue?

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