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September 30, 2004
Too Much Ketchup?
I sit here enjoying a sumptuous hotdog slathered in mustard and of course the omnipresence of ketchup. Please note that it is currently 9:12 am.
I feel almost collegiate again.
Being awake since 5:35 has its advantages. One of those being that you can take lunch early. Then have a second lunch later. Because we all know that life revolves around food and when you are going to get it next.
Since near the beginning of time our lives and focused on the need to consume mass quantities. We are inundated with commercials and advertisements calling are attention to the fact that we haven’t ingested anything opulent in the last three point seven four eight minutes or seconds whatever the case may be. Compounded with the constant and ample supply of foodstuff we not surprisingly find a trend towards obesity.
I have never counted but I wonder what the ratio is between sex themed commercials and food themed commercials. While we are at the level of comparison it is also interesting how they portray sex to be as much of a daily need as they do consumption of necessary carbohydrates (take that Atkins) and proteins.
Our pop culture always feeds us such a load. Pun intended. I think I’ll write a poem about food.
Posted by paul at 07:10 PM | Comments (5)
September 28, 2004
I Live My Life Like a Burning Man
Changed lives. That’s the goal right? For our lives to change and for the lives of those around us Christian or non-Christian to change. That is the power of the gospel. That is the existing point of Christ’s life and death was to change our lives, our very existence. To radically alter our menial instant on this earth and bring us into the very throne room of the creator. To live in the presence of God.
Brad Barrett said this afternoon that we are all on the edge of change. We as humans are such a tiny step away from a changed life. God has us in his hands just waiting for the chance to completely overhaul our state of mind. To give us a sense of the eternal in the present, to show us his boundless love, to carry us from a state of helplessness and complacency to a place of power, love and self-discipline. He is incredibly eager to give us a bubbling, frothing-over cup of grace and blessing. That is what the gospel is all about. God jumping all over himself to love us, to be in relationship with us, to hear our murmured prayers before meals and as we lie in bed. He wants to be so much more then a lucky rabbits foot pulled out just when we are in trouble. He wants to rejoice with us through everyday life as he gives us enumerable joys. He longs to cry with our sorrows and run to scoop us into his ever-loving embrace when we loose our balance and tumble headlong into the mud of life.
Your life is about to change. Can you feel it? Can you sense the tension in the air? You are on the brink of the unknown simply titled Gods grace and favor. Run and leap headfirst into faith. Because there is no end in sight.
In fact there is no end… ever… anywhere.
Posted by paul at 09:04 PM | Comments (4)
September 27, 2004
Please Don't Forget
Conflicting emotions plagued my weekend. I watched my Grandfather kiss a strange woman after being pronounced man and wife just a short seven months after my Grandmothers death. I am sure that this brings no comparison with having a parent remarry soon after a death or divorce. For me though it was an otherworldly sight.
For twenty-four years I witnessed the love and relationship of my grandparents. They were inseparable so much so that one without the other seemed completely unnatural. In my mind they were one more than words can describe. After some fifty-seven years of marriage the lines that separated these two wonderful individuals had dimmed to a barely perceptible physical separation. Last February that hairline fracture was forever ruptured as my sweet Grandmother took her leave of this earth and was made perfect in the blink of an eye. I miss her smile, the smell of her cooking the thanksgiving turkey, and her soft warm hugs.
Now the remaining half cannot continue. The whole of his identity has changed. I was happy with him as he expressed his love and devotion to his new bride. But my mental image of him has not yet caught up with this new reality and I struggle with the emotional complexity.
So congratulations Jim, I pray that God gives you many more blessed years, but please don’t forget. Don’t forget the joy, the love, and the years. Don’t forget your daughters and don’t forget to realize that they lost their mother.
Posted by paul at 09:47 PM | Comments (3)
September 24, 2004
U2 - Vertigo (new single)
"Vertigo"
Unos, dos, tres, catorce
Turn it up loud, captain
Lights go down
It's dark, the jungle is
Your head can't rule your heart
I'm feeling so much stronger
Than I thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can't be bought
Your mind can wander
Hello, hello
Hola
I'm at a place called Vertigo
Dond' esta
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something I can feel
Feel
The night is full of holes
These bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle
As the boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance
At least they know
I can sell the beats
I'm asking for the check
Girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus 'round her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music
Hello, hello
Hola
I'm at a place called Vertigo
Dond' esta
It's everything I wish I didn't know
But you give me something I can feel
Feel
Shot dead
Shots fall
Show me, yeah
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want
And no one gets hurt
Hello, hello
Hola
We’re at a place called Vertigo
Dond' esta
Lights go down and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel
Kneel
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
_____________________________________________
Very cool track. Very rock and roll. Its the one that everyone is talking about. Should be a smash hit. You heard it here first folks.
Courtesy of atu2.com
Posted by paul at 02:34 PM | Comments (4)
September 22, 2004
Who Was That Masked Man?
The craving to create, the drive to generate, the yearning to give the world something and have them sit back and say “yeah, that’s good.” The approval of man.
Is that what it comes back to?
At times I literally itch to create something. That’s why I run down stairs and pound the out of tune piano, why I become engrossed with a scrap of paper that brings an imaginary figure to life, why I leave a colossal mess in the kitchen trying to artistically cook, and why I write.
As long as I can remember I have been drawing, playing music, making up stories and mud pies. Usually the creative process culminated in the display of my “art”. At heart I’m a show off. So then what does God want for me?
I’m trying not to get to introspective here. I get really tired of completely introspective blogs. You’re not the center of the universe. I am.
I have been reading the biography of George Whitefield the great English revivalist of the 18th century. They say that George preached over 30,000 sermons in his short lifetime. He was overdramatic and extremely loud. He was a show off.
At the same time I have been listening to some Mark Darling tapes. I would have to say they have a similar personality.
Now I have a bad habit of thinking that I can do anything. (See this post.) But I am just trying to figure myself out here. What has God built me for? Jack of all trades master of none. I know, I know follow Gods general plan for your life and he will reveal his more specific plan in due time. “Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand and he will lift you up in due time.” But… I want to know… now.
Posted by paul at 09:47 PM | Comments (3)
September 21, 2004
The Awesome Love of God vol. 1
Over the last week I have been thinking about the gospel and what it means for me. This has been prompted in part by Tim and in part by Greg Van Nada. Then yesterday I listened to Mark Darling's “The Awesome Love of God” and then I knew that I had to post on it.
Tim mentioned that we as Christians tune out the gospel message shortly after we accept it. We think: “Oh yeah. I’ve heard that. That’s for all those heathen sitting around me” But really I think we need to start sharing the gospel once a week (at least), or repeating it to ourselves quietly before we go to bed. Because in reality this gospel, this message has a life changing effect.
Ok now your thinking: “You haven’t proved anything yet I think I’ll move on to Matt’s blog or maybe see what the Cubs standing are.” Well don’t leave just yet. (and believe me I read Matt’s blog on a regular basis and this time he just posted on the laptop he is selling and btw the Cubs are loosing.) So here is my reasoning for the importance of the gospel.
The gospel gives you perspective. It helps you realize that God loves you unconditionally. I know that everyone knows that but how often do you believe it? Not often enough. Because if you did other people’s opinion of you becomes a non-issue. Also if you really truly realized God’s incredible love for you then you would have no problem with guilt, reading your bible, or flossing regularly.
Well I am out of time on this post. (Sorry but I need to get stuff done and I know how much everyone loves reading super long serious posts.)
So take the next step and check out these passages:
Galatians 2:19-3:3
Romans 8
1 Corinthians 13 (read this one replacing every instance of the word love with God. It’s true!)
Posted by paul at 09:45 PM | Comments (3)
September 15, 2004
My Latest Triumph
I stood there immobilized and amazed by the choices arrayed before my eyes. This mission of gargantuan proportions had been entrusted to me as my fateful task and there was not time for disport. Coming from a distant land to find this auspicious local had been an Iliadian undertaking. I had to be indefatigable in my quest overcoming great obstacles and multiple terrors. This goal, this desire held aloft and at great price was the prize that I had been destined to win. Christie had sent me here. Trusting all into my care. To the place of the red circles to purchase an item so dear to her that all else grew ashen and cold in the brilliant glare of… shave gel. Please note that no specific gel was outlined, so the choice was solely up to me. The only element defined was to restrict myself from anything and all choices malodorous. So, not one to be deterred by options and as always considering myself to be a decisive person I plunged on. But wait! There was another wayfarer approaching my isolated isle. What was I to do! Ever so casually and imperceptibly I darted my eyes onto a more epicene product. Which I might add was not so easy in such a feminine isle such as I found myself. I let my head drift towards where my eyes had landed. “My these Gillette Extra Manly Shavers were oh so interesting with there 47 blades and sonic skin defibrillator ©” I almost exclaimed aloud. This interloper stalled while I languish over which cutting tool was indispensable for my ever so mannish chin and finally they were gone. I made a quick move and suddenly there in my basket lay the quarry. My feet moved unbidden hastening me towards the checkout lanes. Casting a sidelong glance at my prize reveal it as “soothing lavender”. “Ah a most ideal choice”, I thought to myself, “For her favorite color is purple”. The checkouts loomed nearer through the veritable barricade of advertising bricolage. Now my fate was in the sure hands of the checkout attendant. Would she price check my ever so perilous product? Or would I slip through unscathed by my hazardous charge. I picked a lane with a competent looking middle-aged woman with anything but the customer’s barrage of items on her mind. True to form the crucial gel careened down the belt and landed in a bag with the resounding bleep of the scanner and the flint face of my Target© savior never once implicated me in this crime of gender precarious qualities. My quest was over and my manly pride remained unshaken.
And now some vocabulary present in our story:
disport \dis-PORT\, intransitive verb:
To amuse oneself in light or lively manner; to frolic.
Iliadian \ill-lee-ADD-ien\, adjective:
A type of quest; mission of great import.
indefatigable \in-dih-FAT-ih-guh-bul\, adjective:
Incapable of being fatigued; not yielding to fatigue; not
readily exhausted; untiring; unwearying.
malodorous \mal-OH-duhr-uhs\, adjective:
Having a bad odor.
epicene \EP-uh-seen\, adjective:
1. Having the characteristics of both sexes.
2. Effeminate; unmasculine.
3. Sexless; neuter.
4. (Linguistics) Having but one form of the noun for both the
male and the female.
bricolage \bree-koh-LAHZH; brih-\, noun:
Construction or something constructed by using whatever
materials happen to be available.
~~~Thanks to http://www.dictionary.com for word descriptions.~~~
Posted by paul at 06:31 PM | Comments (12)
September 09, 2004
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Night conjures it symphony of darkness out of the very ground itself.
It is not for lack of light that the blackness comes.
It just comes.
I have seen that raindrop fall from great heights.
It starts so high so alone.
It falls gathering strength and speed.
The earth spreads before it as an aching tomb.
It comes to rest with a finality that can never be questioned ...ruined upon colorless terrain.
More troubled drops appear and commit a similar crime but cannot soften the visage of this deathly place.
Do you know a place where hope is gone and all that remains is patience?
Where peace has long since dried and anxiety tears the flesh?
Where terror eats even any feeling of light?
I know of one only.
This is not that place.
This is not that place.
Posted by paul at 07:38 PM | Comments (3)
September 03, 2004
The Devil is Bad
Thought provoking question:
Why was God thinking when he created the devil? I guess that we see from Job that God gives the devil all of his power. But it still seems like he could have given him less power. Because its really a struggle out there. Or maybe if he had made our sinful roots weaker more people would turn to him instead of becoming so easily entangled.
Action provoking question:
What is your reaction to sin? In your life or someone else’s? This is a good heart check for me. When I realize that I have sinned I have a tendency to complacently shrug and pray that I will do better next time as opposed to really repenting with sorrow over my behavior or thoughts.
Posted by paul at 07:15 PM | Comments (5)
September 01, 2004
Approaching Marriage’s Single Singularity – Becoming One
Here I am just over my three-month monthiversary of marriage to my dear Christie. But our amicable relationship has grown towards an approaching moment for the past three months. We have watched ever so cautiously as the days have passed. Gingerly awaiting the inevitable. For others this may seem a trite and meaningless issue but for us it is paramount to disaster. For tied within the very fiber of this concern is the protoplasmic element in our blood, it is the stream of consciousness with which we operate our daily lives, and it is the finality in which we stamp out our very existence on this meager planet. I am running out of toothpaste. THAT’S RIGHT! No longer can I claim toothpastial independence from my beautiful caring wife. In a few short days my tube, the symbol of my independence, my singleness, and my very bachelorhood will be gone forever and resolutely I must start using the same tube as my wife. Now you may ask, “Is there some peculiarity in the paste that you choose that would cause strife between you and your beloved?” Nay, amazingly we choose a similar rather basic paste. But wait, I must take you back to those first days of independence, living as one separated from my parents I purchased my first tube of toothpaste. Claiming it as my own I squeezed it the way that I thought it should be squeezed, I kept the cap clean of dried nasty paste, and I stored it carefully in dark dry space. It was a triumph of my young life. I was eager for the thrills and excitement of it all. So now do I weep, do I wring my hands in agony? Nay, not so, I set my face like flint prepared for the future. I have made my peace with the paste and now will set my brush into the unknown with joy.
Thank you.
Posted by paul at 06:28 PM | Comments (10)