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Wednesday, 08 July 2009
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"What is the Glory of God?"
John Piper asked a good question (he usually does).
Without reading the message he posted along with this question (http://ow.ly/gE9o), I'm going to attempt to answer this question as many times as I possibly can in the hopes that I might become more accurate. This is unlikely, seeing as how it's 3:42 in the morning and all my thoughts can only get cloudier as time passes.
Anyway.
The Glory of God is:
When a strong man is broken by the realization of what grace really is
The pin-prick of hope that a shivering refugee has when he/she prays
The arms of one who brings comfort wrapped around a mourner
A secret and totally wicked hideaway that only you know how to get to
Eyes that brim over with tears at the sight of a loved one
The movement of a man standing
The face of someone tasting the savor of steak
Getting hit
A kiss instead of a blade
Someone giving up their seat on the bus just because
A light heart in spite of a ruined luxury
The bend of a knee
Wine
Perfect blankets of dust over every surface
The grey in elderly peoples' eyes
The unexpected sting of compassion when a desperate child squeezes your finger
Stitches of laughter
Handmade anything
As Billy Collins wrote, the "laying of hands on another person's skin"
Fingertips
Fire
Woven into everything
Remembering that it's not all about me
Heightened senses
Loving, accentuated by hating
A bitten fruit and a handful of bloody nails
Every right choice
What you scramble to hold on for dear life otherwise you might fall backwards and crack your head open
The dance you do only when you're alone
Getting caught dancing alone
Jumping into someone's arms
Pulling off the impossible
Reaching greater heights with each hiking trip
In a journal
Adorning the face of a vibrant woman
The hook in the stomach when on the edge of discovery
The relief that follows a good sneeze
An accurately written word that perfectly depicts the thoughts and emotions o f the writer at that moment in time and space
Mom's food on the tongue, Dad's hand on the face
Understanding that shines through the eyes
Saying something at the same time as someone else
A happy cage of hamsters and fish
I'm going to sleep now.
Goodnight.
Tuesday, 05 May 2009
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Social Order Hangs on a Thread
I was reading Shakespeare's Richard II, or at least the SparkNotes summary of the play, and felt my conscience strangely moved. Not that it was a very tragic and heart-rending story, but seeing Shakespeare's portrayal of royalty and kingship and all the ugly undercurrents of unspoken politics (betrayal, grudge, usurpation and all such things) and realizing that he was basing this play on true events (thus the reason why it and the 3 Henry plays are considered the History plays) got me to thinking about the hierarchy of our age.
Are we so much more advanced than people in Shakespeare's time?
Through the lens of Shakespeare's Richard II, the complexity of politics and dealings with the public are incredibly intricate and sophisticated, well-advanced and so insightful that I'm moved to think that maybe the people of the 21st century A.D. are not so far ahead in the ways of social order. The swiftness of Richard's fall from kingship by way of Bolingbroke's betrayal and rise to power was not the hammer hitting the nail on the head for me. Rather, it was the murder of the former king Richard indirectly by Bolingbroke which shoked me into a train of thought about the kind of peace and order we have in today's society. There wasn't any reason for Bolingbroke to kill off Richard in this back-handed, cold manner, for Richard was already resigned to despair and wallow in the fact that he had lost everything and Bolingbroke was already enjoying the favor of all the country's subjects (both nobles and laborers).
For some reason or other, I got to thinking about necessity. For Bolingbroke to have complete certainty that Richard will never come back to threaten his new kingship, he had to kill Richard. That was the necessary step for Bolingbroke to secure a safe position for himself (at least for the time being).
Then I thought of what people today do in order to secure for themselves a solid and safe position in life. Whether that means sabatoging votes, bribing key people, holding hostages, or else taking by force the desired object, I realize that people are terribly savage when it comes to "looking out for number one", and that murder isn't even an imagined step that people take to acquire what they want, it's a reality. The gruesome assassination of a former king so that another can fully usurp his throne doesn't sound like a far cry from a man planning the murder of his wife to collect on insurance money.Don't ask me how, but then I begun thinking about zombies. Not the idea of them in themselves, but what they reflect about the core of our society. When normal social order is wiped out, life becomes every man for himself; unless people consciously band together to try and survive (such as when the nurse and police officer join the couple and the odd-job man in heading towards the mall in Dawn of the Dead) and a smaller scale society is formed, it is still very (if not even more so) tense and chaotic because there is no guarentee of people remaining loyal to each other. Despite the fact that all the people in Dawn of the Dead had experienced suburban life, had had the consumer life and had been a part of a functioning, greater society, the illusion of order and security that having a government provides immediately dissolved and people were doing anything and everything to do what's best and most beneficial for themselves. Not that I look down on that, it's exactly what I'd do too in a situation so completely blown up.
I guess my illustration in the above paragraph was supposed to point to the fact that just because we have an incredible variety of shampoos and t.v. dinners and health clubs and microscopes does not mean that we have a better grasp on peace and order in society. We are not much better off than Shakespeare and folks living in the 1600s were in grasping those things because let's face it, if the White House were obliterated tomorrow and there was no one left in government, we'd have to go back to the Dark Ages. Our lives would be too full of fear (of our futures, of our neighbors, of how to survive, etc) and romantic thoughts of living quiet, coffeeshop lives would get blown to hell with the preoccupation of figuring out how to maintain one's livelihood (in the sense of staying alive).
I'm going to have to finish this thought later. I'm getting tired and I still have to write a 5 page paper on Shakespeare.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
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Twilight Review
Ugh.
Not that I don't enjoy romance and all, but this movie and the dialogue just made me all too aware of the fact that someone was trying to pluck at my heartstrings. I didn't roll my eyes, but I had to wince on many occassions when the word exchange went beyond my cheesiness tolerance. Yes, instead of rolling my eyes I found myself blowing raspberries, twitching, making very odd and twisted facial expressions, seizing up every now and again, and sometimes, just busting out laughing. I'm so glad this series didn't come out when I was a teenager, otherwise I think I would have been ashamed of myself now (indeed, I know this is an admission of some sort and that I am in fact saying that if I were a highschooler I'd totally buy into this story, but I'm not even going to try to pretend that I was a perfectly stable, sane, non-hormonal driven teenager [though, maybe a smidgen less so than others] and anyone who tries to say different about themselves is a liar. It's science, get over it).
Kudos to the actors and actresses in this film who have found themselves some steady, solid income for the next few years; I think they've tapped into an incredibly fanatic audience who will (I believe) faithfully watch out for more Twilight movies and products. Just watch out for the "Edwards" of the fans. This is not a compliment, it is an allusion to the stalking nature of the character.
Yeah. Watch out for that.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
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Dreams of Peace in Chaos
If I could make others see what it is I see,
They might start to dream of a greater reality.
Because sometimes my heart starts to race,
In a thrill my fingers might try to trace the outline of my fantasy,
On my desk, or on my blanket, my index will try to make it,
Give it form; give it shape, tangibility so that from my head it would escape,
No longer trapped but with expression,
Enabling others in succession to see the damage and the fray,
The bad decisions and peoples’ way of being selfish,
Rarely giving, unable to see the greater vision,
Of what this life might be like, if you and I could think alike.
My friend she cried the other day,
Her tears a sign of her dismay of peoples’ hate, of her own hate,
The taste of loneliness innate,
If she could see what I do see,
She might start to dream of a greater reality.
-Yours truly
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
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My First Panic Attack
I was shocked at how quickly it felt like my life got turned upside down. I don't know why it became so intense last night but as I was online and chatting, I somehow got this distinct feeling that people hated me. I could laugh at myself for writing that but it was a thought that I actually was (and sort of still am) considering seriously, sadly enough
. Man, all I can say is that last night sucked. It was the worst night I'd ever had bar none. Spent most of the night depressed and hopeless, praying, reading the bible, listening to music, doing anything possible to get rid of the horribly compressing feeling in my chest before finally going unconscious around 5 in the morning.If you've ever read the Harry Potter series, then you'll know what I mean when I say it felt like a dementor came into my room and sucked all the happiness out of my life. I was always halfway done dialing someones number the entire night but then second guessing myself as I'd stare at the clock and see the numbers 3, 4 and 5 glaring back at me. It was way too late to call anybody so I sort of just agonized through the night :/
SUCKED.
If you've got any encouraging words, I'd be much obliged if you'd write them here. Thanks!
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God is so good to have provided so many encouraging people to be in my life right now. It was great being able to talk with my discipler yesterday who helped me to focus on some scripture instead of all the negative thoughts and to be among brothers and sisters that just encourage me naturally with their community. I thank God that I'm not the same person I was even 2 years ago, otherwise this wave of insecurity and panic would have surely overwhelmed me. The Lord is gracious and good to his own.
Isaiah 41:10
Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
falling610
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- Name: Brenda
- Birthday: 6/10/1988
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 1/10/2003
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There are so many talented writers out there, I need to buckle down with the writing or content myself with shallow, dumb writing...
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