Greetings, oh vast public.

Ever had one of those nights where you don't sleep much so you end up falling asleep really early the next day and then you wake up around 10 PM and you can't sleep at all the following night? Yeah, me too. And since I've completely run out of RSS feeds to read, web-sites to visit, e-mails to respond to, missionaries to write to, and web games to update, I have resorted to the bottom of the barrel, and you are getting a blog update.

The photo-shopped church sign, by the way, is mine. I don't know if I've posted it before, but I liked the result so I've had it sitting on my desktop for ages. If it made you smile in vague amusement then it has done its job.

Speaking of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I'm a regular Kiva user. I have a hundred or so dollars which I regularly flip through their loaning machine, and which is used to provide small loans to entrepreneurs who are trying to create a livelihood (usually in other countries, but sometimes in poorer parts of the U.S.). Kiva allows users to count their loans toward teams, and maintains a ranking of which teams are providing the most loans. "Kiva Mormons," the team which I usually count toward, is just a handful of loans behind the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" team, and there's some competition to try and recruit more people so that we can pull ahead.

There have been some people in the team that worry that competitiveness is not a good motivation for charitable work. This got me thinking, especially since I heard of this verse in the Koran:

For every one of you [Jews, Christians, Muslims], We have appointed a path and a way. If God had willed, He would have made you but one community; but that [He has not done in order that] He may try you in what has come to you. So compete with one another in good works.

I think "compete with one another in good works" is a great way for religions to relate to one another. If you believe you are God's true church, make an argument with deeds rather than words. I can also think of a nod to this in Christianity:

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

This is more advice for those who are trying to discern true religion from false, but it's also a reminder to those of us who call ourselves the true religion -- we ought to be producing good fruit. So yes, I think that competing in good works has a sound basis. And with that, just 93 more loans to pass the spaghetti people!