My Kojak Son

Last night, in a fit of boredom/stroke of genius, I grabbed the Mad Gab box and broke out some family fun. It works best when you are both feeling a little punchy. Our favorite of the night was Thou Sundial Undress Sing, which I managed to scream over and over for a good five minutes without getting. That was followed by the dumbest Mad Gab ever: Gym Carry (I'll give you a hint - Jim Carrey was the "answer").

Euphoria

IF you thought that last post was bad, wait till you read this one. NO ONE cares about this, except me. But, yesterday, I wore my Papelbon t-shirt. Jonathan Papelbon was the rookie closer for the Red Sox last year, who happened to have one of the best years a closer has ever had in baseball. At the end of the season, he hurt his shoulder, and so the Sox decided to try him at starter this Spring. As a result, the Sox have tried several other pitchers at closer, but they all stink. Back to yesterday, I'm wearing my shirt, I come home from class, and I see that Papelbon has been losing sleep because he still wants to be the closer, so the Sox decide to make him the closer. I couldn't be more thrilled. And it all happens on the day I wearing his shirt. Words cannot describe how excited I am about this. So there you go.

A Nick Blog

Few will care, but for those who do, this music video is one of my favs. They showed it at their concert whilst they played the song, and it rocks. As I recently discovered it on the tube, I thought I would share it with everyone.

A Bob Blog

Bob told me to blog this, so I am. I have a feeling it will only be of interest to me and him. How's that for an attention grabber?

So, I'm doing research for the passage in Mark 9:49 about salting with fire, and one of the articles I read mentions the danger in taking certain passages too literally, and then references an article written in 1928. Curiosity aroused, I looked it up. Here is the passage referenced:

"And yet so terrible is it to Christ that one should be smirched by evil even there, that He plunges me into that terrific metaphor, surely the most heart-shuddering thing in Scripture, about the right hand cut off and the right eye torn out - anything, everything to be saved from this foul, festering pollution! Once on a day I had a ghastly experience. The phone rang early in the morning, and an hysterical woman's voice bade me come instantly. I went, and found that a most brilliant student had suddenly gone crazy in the night, had with a safety-razor cut off his hand, and lay there laughing exultantly. 'I did it right,' he cried, 'I can look Jesus in the face.' They took him to the hospital, his hand beside him in a paper bag, and from thence to the asylum, poor crazed soul! But as I stood there in that blodd-splashed place, Christ's hate and terror of sin even in thought came rushing in upon me. Pluck it out! Cut it off! Or it will fester, poison, slay your soul!"

There's a witty response to this strange anecdote, but I can't think of it. I guess if you want to post a comment, let me know what you would say in response to this story.

Christian Bracketology

I love March and I love basketball, so you all know what's on my mind. And since I'm thinking about it, here are the first round matchups that confound me:

Butler v. Old Dominion
UNLV v. Ga.Tech
Nevada v. Creighton
Virginia v. Albany
Tennessee v. Long Beach State

Teams that confuse me:

Oregon
Winthrop
Virginia
UCLA

Upset picks:

I have VCU beating UCLA, do the math.
Texas playing G'Town for the East.
Oral Roberts over WASU.
Winthrop over ND.

Finally, Go Niagra, except Kansas to win it all over Ohio State. Double heartbreak for OSU fans, no national championship again, and Oden still goes.

The Art of Critique

Perhaps you were not inspired, dear reader, by the quotation in the last post. So allow me to elaborate. Giving up is not beautiful. Complaining and whining is not attractive. No one pays money for anything done in the spirit of apathy, laziness, ignorance, or even in the pursuit of safety and comfort. Nor, I would like to point out, are people inspired by such things.

I want my life to be beautiful. I want to live an inspired life that inspires others. That may mean that I persevere under harsh circumstances. That may mean that I choose not to whine or complain about the way things are and pursue what they could be. It may mean that I need to start considering things about which I was too lazy, apathetic, or ignorant. And it may even mean that I need to abandon my desire for safety and comfort.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of ugliness in my world. I see people (including churches) and institutions that seem to lack or deny themselves the ability to create something beautiful. Now, I can criticize this ugliness, and I think many people choose to do just that, or I can create something beautiful. The choice, I think, rests on faith. Some might be tempted to call this optimism, but it's too easy to discount optimism as silly, immature, or stupid. While I don't think it is any of those things, I do believe that optimism is built upon the foundation of faith. If I believe that God can do great things in the world today, I will be optimistic. If I believe that the Spirit works today to change lives dramatically, I will be optimistic. If I believe that God's love can conquer all things and that nothing will separate me from that love, I will be optimistic. And if I can believe, then I can create something beautiful. And when I create something beautiful, then I can change the world.

What in your life will you make beautiful? Will you criticize or will you create?

Inspiration for the Day

Well, I finished my midterms last week, as well as the rest of my course work for my incomplete from last fall, so I am officially caught up with life after a three-month hiatus. Feels good...

Unfortunately, the extra time I have now leaves me without anything about which to blog, so I'll just share this quote I heard yesterday that inspires me.

"I critique by making something beautiful."

- Michaelangelo