Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Pinpricks as Friends


The swells crash against each other, as
billows threaten to fill up and
fill out the night sky. I sit and
watch as the black and
the grey overwhelm the blue and
the white. The ebb and
the flow of these growing masses
stretch out across the paths of
the infinite heavens.

Can I face them?
Will I be overtaken?
Will the darkness find a way to consume us all?

A crackle, a crease, a seam,
the merest beam of light
finds its way down to me.
I snicker and
laugh at the gall of this tiny
tincture of brightness that has
broken through the clouds.

What is this?

It seems that it cannot last anymore
than a match I would strike. It is but a
temporary source in the frightening mass of
unseeing and
unknowing
currently pummeling the earth.

But
it lasts and
it stays and
it continues to provoke my wonder, as
its presence last far beyond any and
all of my prescriptions and
predictions.

For by this glimmer, my eyes can
gain an image of what surrounds me. Whereas before,
I had no means of seeing amidst the tumult of
atmosphere, I now have a way of making a path through
the disturbance.

To ask to see true daybreak is to ask too much at this time.
But the companionship provided by this little spark is
exactly
what
I
need.


APN.
Copyright 05/14/2006

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Guilty as Charged (and it's about damn time)!!




Courtesy of the BBC, CNN, and the KPFT Local News Team,it seems that formerly duped Houstonians and former Enron employees everywhere are receiving justice today. Ken Lay was found guilty on 6 of the 6 charges against him in the principal case and 4 of 4 counts in a secondary case. Jeffery Skilling has been found guilty on 19 of the 28 charges against him, though found not guilty of all of the insider trading charges. The most damning counts against them are those of the fraud and conspiracy charges. Skilling faces a maximum of 185 years in prison and Lay faces a maximum of 165 years in prison as sentencing has not been determined.

More will be forthcoming as the news & analysis unfolds, breaks, and reveals itself.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Ahhhh.... Summertime plans in the works....







I must say, with any luck, I shall have a quite busy summer and that makes me really excited. The list of possible shows, trips, and roadtrips are currently as follows:

June 8th -- Arctic Monkeys at The Warehouse (Houston, TX)
June 14 -- Murder By Death at Walter's on Washington (Houston, TX)
June 16th-18th -- Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN)
Artists playing to include:
RADIOHEAD
Death Cab for Cutie
Bright Eyes
Common
Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Sonic Youth
My Morning Jacket
Cat Power
Son Volt
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Streets

July 7th -- Danielson at Walter's on Washington (Houston, TX)
Sometime between July 8th and July 22nd, I'm planning to visit Philadelphia, PA with some friends to visit a missional community up there and the seminary I'm planning to attend in the Fall.
July 23rd -- The Appleseed Cast at Walter's on Washington (Houston, TX)
July 26th -- Diplo at The Warehouse (Houston, TX)
August 9th -- Bloc Party at The Warehouse (Houston, TX)

Anyone else have any plans (besides Carrie) we should all know about? Any concerts that I should be attending with you?? Let me know!!

Peace.

Friday, May 12, 2006

Media (in video)!

I'm not sure that I could have ever resisted posting this video here. Please forgive my shamelessness....



Get this video and more at MySpace.com



ENJOY!!

Thursday, May 11, 2006

The first steps on the journey have been taken...

Well, it’s official – I have completed my application to seminary. The waiting game now begins, but I’m quite OK with that waiting time. I have spent the last 4-6 months of praying, conversing, sharing, debating, and pondering with others and myself as to if I should be pursing graduate-level work in Waldorf education and working for The Harvest as a Grades level teacher or attending seminary as a way to step into full-time ministry (with an option to seek more theological training and education afterwards). Often, I would fall on one side with great weight and great determination, only to pick myself up and hoist my present and future onto the other side with equal resolve and belief in my decision. But this one has been made and I am excited to see what lies ahead for the next 2-3 years.

For most of February and March, I had decided to pursue both options equally, feeling that, having been given the chance to make a choice, I would be best served by walking down both paths for as long as possible, in hopes that my way would be illuminated at some point. I began communicating with representatives from Biblical Seminary and Regent College to determine which institution would be best suited for me and I for them. I eventually chose Biblical because of their focus upon training and educating pastors and lay leaders who cannot afford to attend seminary full-time because of the fact that they’re already in full-time ministry. Having such a program and heavily promoting such a program by Biblical was the impetus I needed to select them over Regent.

From the other side of the fence, The Harvest, a school and community that has been absolutely wonderful and redemptive for me in the past year, offered me a job opportunity that was quite hard to refuse. For every summer/year of training that I attended (funded by monies that I and the school attained through loans), by working at the school for the school year, those loans would be waived. They were offering a one-to-one, loan-to-grant arrangement wherein I would be working with children and teaching music all week long, training as a Grades teacher. This has been a place full of staff, faculty, parents, and children who have loved me, accepted me, honored me, encouraged me, and shown me intense love and appreciation for my talents and abilities. They sincerely were investing a great deal into my life and I have been greatly humbled throughout the school year by being a part of their lives.

But during the course of Holy Week – Maundy Thursday, Gethsemane Vigil, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday – I experienced a moment of clarity of purpose that I had been seeking after during my quest. I came to the belief that, had I chosen the training that The Harvest was offering me, I would have been relying upon my life, my own abilities, and myself in general. By staying in the Houston area for the next 3-4 years, I would not have grown in ways in which I feel I should been – seeing the larger world around me, experiencing an intense theological education I feel would be foundational to the rest of my life, and following my heart and passion for God and the God’s creation.

However, by choosing to attend seminary for the next 2-3 years, I am going to be relying on God’s guidance to see me through on this path. My funding has not been confirmed – I am seeking grants from the school, seriously considering loans, and definitely looking to work 16-20 hours a week at a job. I cannot rely on myself in these situations – I will second-guess my decisions and backpedal from what I do not and cannot know; but by leaving this to God, I am going to be living according to a depth of faith that I will totally new, fresh, exciting, engaging, and exhilarating – all while being quite scary and frightening. I’d be naïve not to be nervous in making this step of faith, but it has to be made.

The Harvest has been fabulously supportive of my decision and I will be doing free-lance work for them all summer long: helping with their website, editing and compiling a revised set of handbooks, and development of their overall program. The rest of my summer will be spent in preparation for my departure: securing funds, attaining a job, finding a place to live, and saying good-bye to my family and friends in Texas. And oh yeah – I’m hoping to complete between 30-35 chapters of my Genesis commentary before the summer ends. That project has been such a stabilizing (yet freeing) creative and theological force in my life during this tumult. If anything, Genesis In My Eyes has been both my muse and the motivation behind my decision – I want to do justice to my writing and to the lives & stories in the book of Genesis.

To everyone I’ve talked to about this decision – thank you for everything. I love you all so very much and, if you’re a Texas resident, I will miss you tremendously. Your support, encouragement, and kicks-in-the-ass will never be forgotten; it is because of them that I write this today. Peace…

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Media!

BOOKS!
  • The End of the Affair : Graham Greene

  • The Humanity of God : Karl Barth

  • Living and Active : Telford Work

  • Love in the Time of Cholera : Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  • The Moviegoer : Walker Percy

  • One Hundred Years of Solitude : Gabriel Garcia Marquez

  • Pride & Prejudice : Jane Austen

  • V for Vendetta : Alan Moore & David Lloyd

  • Who's Afraid of Postmodernism : James K. A. Smith


  • MOVIES!
  • Broken Flowers : Jim Jarmusch & Bill Murray

  • Coffee & Cigarettes : Jim Jarmusch & Whole LOT of people (including Bill Murray)

  • Thank You for Smoking : Aaron Eckhart, Katie Holmes, Robert Duvall, & Others

  • American Dreamz : Hugh Grant, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Willem Dafoe, & Others


  • MUSIC!
  • Singles : The Smiths

  • Catch For Us the Foxes : mewithoutYou

  • Pearl Jam : Pearl Jam

  • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! : Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

  • I Am a Bird Now : Antony & the Johnsons

  • The Life Pursuit : Belle & Sebastian

  • Hot Fuss : The Killers

  • Feels : Animal Collective
  • Friday, May 05, 2006

    Upon Appearing

    In celebration of the Father & Mother Blessing held for my wonderful friends --


    You
    are more than survivors.
    You
    didn't just barely make it.
    There weren't any skins
    of any teeth that were shed. And
    you
    didn't just slide in
    under the door to get here.

    For you see,

    This coming,
    This advent,
    This arrival,
    is glorious, is joyful, is to be celebrated.

    And it is so much greater than
    you
    could have ever imagined.

    The path had not been for the weak,
    but, throughout this journey,
    it has been God who has been strong
    for
    you,
    in
    you,
    and whose strength flows out of
    you,
    all over the others in your lives.

    She
    is more than a survivor.
    She
    didn't just barely make it.
    She
    is victorious.
    She
    is miraculous.

    She is here.


    APN.
    Copyright 05/05/2006

    "Yes, I love technology...."


    Thanks to my friend Troy for this wonderful picture. If needed, click on the picture to read the quite hilarious caption. Enjoy.

    Monday, May 01, 2006

    Watch these videos. All three of them! All of you!!

    Just in case you missed it or haven't heard about it yet, I bring you this link from my friend over at her Current Events Discussion Board on MySpace. Check out her work and get yourselves educated.

    Yes, that does mean that I too have a MySpace profile, and yes, that does mean that if you ask nicely, I might give you the link. And if you're really nice, I might even accept your Friend Invitation.


    And with no further ado, I give you --

    Stephen Colbert's Roast of President George W. Bush

    Once again, proof that Stephen Colbert has balls, and a damn fine sense of humor.