Not so Super Power

Would you want the superpower of always knowing if someone was lying or not?

How would it work? Does your supersense go off when someone fails to represent their thoughts or emotions truthfully and completely? Does it sense when someone fails to accurately communicate reality? Is a lie purposefully malicious while benign untruths are merely misrepresentations?

I do not want to know if people are lying. Humans lie all the time. We constantly misrepresent our feelings and thoughts and half of the time never know that we lied at all. We don't take the time to search ourselves and know ourselves, and consequently we lie about ourselves. I don't want to know if someone is lying. I want to know what they know about themselves. That's what is really interesting. That is what reveals the most about a person.

The meaning of Beauty

Sitting outside on a park bench, breathing in the midnight air. Cars pass you by, entering your life and exiting in a blink. But for that moment, they are a part of your world, and you are a part of theirs. In that moment, you are responsible for their life, safety and happiness. In that moment, they are responsible for yours. Having entered their life, you will forever be with them, if only as scenery in a distant memory, just as they will be with you.

Pop Music Playback

Have you ever gone back and read the lyrics of that new hit you always hear on the radio? Try it.
Sometimes it's deeply disturbing. Other times it's heart warming.
I think you can learn a lot about the state of American culture and society just by going back and listening to the lyrics. Part of me thinks that it's not the groove that draws us to a song and gets it stuck in our head for days to come. And the other part of me knows it. The lyrics means something to us.
I am drawn to a song because it meets me where I am...or where I wish I was.

In a world full of glasses, be not afraid to be a monocle.
In a world of gloves, don't worry about being scarf.
It's okay to be a speaker in the midst of headphones.
You don't have to be a value pack of pens.
In fact,
I'd rather have one dependable, solid pen than a dozen look-alikes that have each other and share nothing special with me.
I prefer to share my music with others instead of hiding behind wire walls.
I'd first keep my neck warm, leaving my hands open to new experiences.
And I'll wear a monocle any day, and wear it with style at that.

Doom

Some days, you are just doomed to be happy. Some days, no matter what comes, a good mood is sure to follow.
The frost coats the field, joy.
Brisk winds chill the skin on my face, ecstasy.
The rug is pulled from beneath you with bad news, hope.
Some days are just ridiculous like that..and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Chewing Gum

I think chewing gum may be the downfall of American Society. If nothing else, it will probably be the downfall of me.

2009 New Year’s Resolution Report

Raving Success.

A deep breath of fresh air each day has changed my life. It has added to my life.

A new habit I never want to kick.

Advice

There’s a lot of worthwhile people out there.

 

Go meet one.

Interobang?!

Often times, when I start looking at other cultures, I see all the negatives about my own country.  I see an overworked population who is fervently working towards goals that they have been told their whole lives would finally make them happy.

There is something sad in that, yes.  But there is also a seed of hope.

We work so hard for the things we value.  Imagine what would happen if we valued other things?!  We are a powerhouse!  We could do so much good as a people.

Architecture

In a world of increasing globalization, we can't hide what already is. Our architecture has spoken about who we are. It has formed an enduring statement of what we stand for and what we find to be beautiful. It reflects our values, our goals and our achievements. It is worth studying and learning. I think anyone who turns their eyes towards our buildings will come back with an fuller understanding of humanity.

Down the Road

Vibrations echo up my shin, into the deep recesses of my mind, as my feet progress, relentlessly. The wind at my back, but it does not speed my pace. No, my destination is a place I dread to go. Raising my eyes unto the horizon, I see the trees which stand sentry to my path. I notice the light sift through layers of leaves, casting webs of shadow and uncertainty across my way. I gaze farther as the road rises and crests the hill, sunlight gleaming beyond, as sunlight is wont to do. The deep resonance gives way to a deeper pounding: mu heart.
Feet astumble and heart aflutter, I contemplate the insanity of the feat I endeavor in fits and starts, unable to grasp those clouds of thoughts. Each instant of imagination passes between my fingers as mist, leaving me with a cold and empty feeling.
The wind bids me continue on my trek, and indeed, it cannot be tarried further. For the sun sets and will find me one day, having reached the hilltop or not.
The sun will find me and it will be glorious. All other cares fade, as the light through the canopy. Though shadows ensnare my feet and darkness hinders my vision, the light will break through. I will break through.

A Coward am I

Tonight, I realize my cowardess.  Tonight, I discover my true colors.

As the enemy storms in, banners held high against the wind, I stake my flag firmly in the ground and watch the horde stampede by.

Never Again.

A Coward am I tonight, but tomorrow, a lion.

I think we all have these moments...

It's hard some days. You don't expect it, as a matter of course.
But, suddenly, there it is, affronting you in the most vile ways imaginable. Ignorance, selfishness, apathy, ingenuiness, lust, greed, and on and on and on and on.
Do I yell? Do I scream? Do I let my rage fill my veins as rain fills a cloud? Can I thunder? Can I storm? May I obliterate insignificant beings with the sheer force of my lightning strike of a wit?
Internal dilemma tears chasms in my heart as magnificent and intruiging as the Grand Canyon.
Stony-faced and determined, I brush past the throng, in the best of my abilities restraining a piercing glare.
After all, who am I but a murdering, stealing, ignorant wretch? All sin is equal. I am redeemed only through the most wonderful display of grace and mercy mankind will ever know. And so I must approach my brothers and sisters with grace, as He has approached me.
...Let's be real, though, I still want to kick, scream, lecture and rampage. But I will trust God to correct all of us in time and to humble me to be able to speak in grace and wisdom in the future.
Here's Hoping!

Correction

How can one person fully grasp the entirety of orthodox teaching? People get up in arms about a person who totally misses the boat on what we consider to be the most important topic. But to them, it is of little import. We are designed to be more interested in one aspect than another. That’s the beauty of it. I am enthralled with the beauty of God, she is enthralled with His majesty. He can’t get over the mercy of God. And every aspect we see, we see it through that lens. In all things, I am predisposed to see the beauty while she sees something totally different, though we see the same thing.

God is infinite, too much for even the whole of humanity to collectively understand given an eternity. But the closest we can get is for all of us to see something slightly different and to share it.

What good is out faith if we do not speak it? What is a song that is never sung?

What good is a love that never shares?

And I’m not saying that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with doctrine and with correct teaching. Nay, we have a duty to it and to watch out for our brothers and sisters. But we need more to it than I see happening. We have to do it in love and with the desire to learn as much as to correct.

I Refuse

Ignorance is our greatest enemy. It is the father of apathy. It is the mother of misunderstanding, disunity and intolerance.

Ignorance is the propagation of lies, unwittingly.

Take a stand against ignorance. If ever there was a cause for which I would gladly give my life, it would be the eradication of ignorance in a world that claims sophistication.

Do not be a passive consumer. Check your facts. Seek multiple perspectives. Broaden your understanding.

I refuse to stand for ignorance any longer. I will hold myself to higher standards. I will hold you to higher standards.

Together, let’s make this world a better place.

Intolerance

Why are we so intolerant of other styles of worship? We are upset when someone throws their hands in the air. We think that dancing does not demonstrate the proper amount of respect.

Do we not realize that some of our own traditions are borrowed from pagans and cults?

Louder than Words

It doesn’t matter what you think if you aren’t acting on it.

I don’t care about the game you’re talking if you aren’t living it out.

I don’t care about your politics if you won’t do anything about them.

Assumptions

You don’t know anyone you don’t know.

A Thought

“But he who has been forgiven little loves little”

 

I’ve heard it said that where the forgiveness is great, so too will the love be great. But all sin is equal. If we love little, it is because we view ourselves incorrectly.

But can you teach someone to view themselves rightly?

Fighting Fire with…

Why fight fire with fire when you can fight it with water?

Why settle for sad mimicry when you can blow the minds of your opponents?

Cliché Rant about American Responsibility

Americans have a responsibility. Our culture is marching across the globe, consuming other cultures in the name of profit. So what message are we sending? What norm are people attempting to emulate in order to get ahead in the global market?

I don’t mean to be trite or cliché, spouting off about responsibility and American society. My concern is more about the media’s representation of American society, because that is what the rest of the world is seeing. And we do have a choice in that.

My Heart Today

Happiness is the silver drip of rain from a midnight sky.

Joy is the cold, soft grass supporting a weary traveler.

Peace is the warm wind, gently at your back.

Nature-ology

Is it possible to study human nature being so engrossed in it? What we consider human nature is what we have been conditioned by a life within our culture to believe is normal.

Terrible Prose

Air rushes into the cavity inside my chest. Emptiness replaced with barely tangible, life-giving oxygen. I take it for granted, noticing and appreciating it only after its absence has brought me to my knees. Throwing my head back, the air washes over me, in me and through me. It envelops me, but its grip fails me. Could the air bend around me in embrace, my happiness would be complete, but no such support yields the wind.
Thunder rolls and the rain comes down, caressing my cheeks in place of tears. Thunder rolls and the wind wraps around my back, in place of arms. Thunder rolls and speaks to me instead of lips.
Lightning strikes the telephone wires between my heart and mind.
Here, in the field, I wait.

Parts of Speech

In a transient world, it seems that I am lacking in adequate training. No one ever taught me how to say goodbye. I've made it this far in my life yet I have not learned how to miss someone. Instead I just fill my life with more verbs in an attempt to cover up the place where the noun belongs.

Work

Often, we work very hard, forgetting to take breaks. There is too much to accomplish for us to take a moment for ourselves.  We lose ourselves to the work, and our tasks define us.

Relaxation, it seems, is a lost art.