the cause of spiritual stupidity

I began reading C.S. Lewis's George MacDonald: An Anthology a few nights ago and I am nearly finished already! It has been a long while since I have been able to sit and finish a book in a reasonable amount of time, and it will be refreshing to reach the end of this book and be reminded again what such an accomplishment feels like. I have been sick (with a cold, but I'm mostly better now) for over a week now, so other than work and school I have otherwise spent most of my time at home filling waste baskets with goobered tissues and hawked spit wads of unspeakably nauseating phlegm. All with the book in my hand. (A bonus of being sick?)

This is the first stuff I have read of George MacDonald. And I like his stuff.

The short excerpts that Lewis has compiled from MacDonald's sermons and fantasy novels can be witty at one moment and violently piercing the next, but still a quenching well of truth in either circumstance. I quickly began to mark the excerpts that spoke to me the most, only to realize twenty pages in that I had marked off more than half of what I read, a mark (or two or three) on every page. So I stopped marking, and just accepted the fact that the entire book spoke to the each eager fiber of my being and it would be pointless to distract a future reader with a sleuth of black inkpen soaking every page.

"The care that is filling your mind at this moment, or but waiting till you lay the book aside to leap upon you--that need which is no need, is a demon sucking at the spring of your life. 'No; mine is a reasonable care--an unavoidable care, indeed.' Is it something you have to do this very moment? 'No.' Then you are allowing it to usurp the place of something that is required of you this moment. 'There is nothing required of me at this moment.' Nay but there is--the greatest thing that can be required of man. 'Pray, what is it?' Trust in the living God....'I do trust Him in spiritual matters.' Everything is an affair of the spirit." - from The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity, an unspoken sermon

"A man is in bondage to whatever he cannot part with that is less than himself." - from The Way, an unspoken sermon

"So long as we have nothing to say to God, nothing to do with Him, save the sunshine of the mind when we feel Him near us, we are poor creatures, willed upon, not willing....And how in such a condition do we generally act? Do we sit mourning over the loss of feeling? Or worse, make frantic efforts to rouse them?" - from The Eloi, an unspoken sermon

I'll be the first to admit my frantic search to rouse feelings. Much of this disease is not the result of some unequipped childhood or a single traumatic event, but is a direct result of the fact that so many aspects of my life have been completely absolved of the guidance of God through my unwillingness to have anything to do with Him. So instead, I forfeit my will to be, and I am "willed upon" by unhealthy outlets that own me and govern my time. Time that I could otherwise choose to spend by saying something to God and having something to do with him, sure acts to the regain of feeling.

I remember walking out of one of my classes the other day and reaching unconsciously into my bag for my iPod, but alas(!), it wasn't there. I remained calm on the outside, but inside I was daunted and uncomfortable by the fact that I'd be spending the next 30 minutes (until I got home) without my iPod! This is slightly disturbing and deserves the amount of thought I am putting into it (again) because the silly thing still owns me; I do not own it. I have enslaved myself (and my feelings) to a plastic device with wires and a shiny screen. "Oh, but it plays music." Yes, yes it does. But all in moderation. My iPod went "out of tune", so to speak. It wasn't there to passively enhance my active thoughts, but to actively encourage passive thoughts. And this is just a 3-by-2 inch object. I have other much bigger and grander items at my disposal, such as my computer, television, dvd player, mirror (I gawk at my pretty self daily...), and the incredibly annoying and time sucking world wide web (including my own blog...). Maybe it's time to pull the plug on a few distractions and say something to Him. You know...have something to do with Him more often than when its merely convenient or expected.

"Never wait for fitter time or place to talk to Him. To wait till thou go to church or to thy closet is to make Him wait. He will listen as thou walkest [without thou's iPod]." - from Righteousness, an unspoken sermon

be inspired, live life and give it

And to think...if it were possible to determine before birth whether or not someone is going to become autistic, many people would encourage abortion for the "benefit of the child".

Bull.

This kid just made my day and he wouldn't have been able to do that if he had his brains sucked out and his body disposed of.

theives, squirrels, fathers, and transvestites

"A 16-year-old Berlin student was so worried he would have to repeat a year at school because of poor marks he convinced two friends to storm his class and steal the report cards with his bad grades." - Reuters.com

Ya, steal the report cards. That'll do it.

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"An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch." - Reuters.com

Excellent. Go grandpa!

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The best Father's Day blog post I read last weekend.

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That's Christopher Walken on the left strutting his stuff in the remake of Hairspray. Pretty weird huh? Well that's nothing. Check out Madame Travolta on the right.

Don't believe me? Try this angle...



Still not seeing it? Here, try this one...



Yaaa, you see it noow, don't you?

Sleep well.

ice water in hell

So the commercials are wonderful. The old and outdated "PC" in his hospital robe showing his undesirables to a young, hip, and fresh "Apple" is funny stuff. They speak volumes about the creative force that has thrusted Apple Inc. into the gleaming limelight the past few years. But none of them comes close to seeing the actual big daddies of each tribe smirk, taunt, and bombast in front the entire world. Like the commercials, "Apple" is more charming, is wearing tennis shoes, and steals the show without even trying that hard. The "PC"--in a shirt, dress shoes and slacks--is at a bumbling loss for words more often than not.

But they are both incredibly intelligent. Watching these great minds cogitate and theorize is invigorating, and it puts the commercials (as great as they are) to shame. Enjoy.

Digital Conference 2007 Prologue:


Steve Jobs Interview (watch 'til the end, its worth it, trust me):


Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Interview (1 of 10):


You can get the rest of them here.

flattery, gas, and chirpy, chirpy, birdie par

I went to the union yesterday to get some papers filled out for work. The union representative said I look like Sanjaya.

"Who?" I said.

"Sanjaya," he said. "You know...that kid on American Idol."

"Who...I don't watch the show....?"

"Mr. Mohawk..."

"Oooh!...Really?"

"Ya, and you talk like him." (Gee, thanks. So I know I still have yet to hit puberty, but really now...)

Oh well, I am slightly flattered, I admit. We're alike in so many ways. He thinks too highly of himself. I think too highly of myself. I can't sing, and neither can he. He talks like Michael Jackson, he is unsure of himself, and he makes things awkward.

...alike in so many ways...

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In other off-the-cuff news today, I am going to try and stop peeling my nails. Unfortunately, that adventure looks dim and daunting because we don't have "Nail Peelers Anonymous" here in Orange County. I'm not sure I have the will power to withstand my urges. But I shall try somewhat valiantly to conquer this self-destructive behavior and put this phase of my life behind me like a trail of pestilent flatulence.

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I was watching golf on Sunday, which I rarely do, but it was on. And decided it was time to actually find out what a "birdie" is...

Bill Nye (the science guy): "DID YOU KNOW???"

birdie: a score of one stroke under par on a hole.
(thank you dictionary.com)

Um...what's "par"?

par: the number of strokes set as a standard for a specific hole or a complete course.
(thank you dictionary.com)

Bill Nye (the science guy): "NOW YOU KNOW!!!"

and just for kicks:

Dunst admits sins against humanity...

Ok, I am only joking. Her acting isn't that bad. I did like her in Eternal Sunshine and Marie Antoinette, but the fact that she has come right out and blatantly admitted (bad, bad idea) her lack of believability leaves one to ponder how much effort she actually puts into her job. She has now officially wiped off the on-and-off again "ditz" ink stamp on her forehead and replaced it with a permanent tattoo. She just doesn't seem to get it. There is something airy about her. Her success seems like an accident or an elaborate joke to be revealed by some mischievous, snickering angels in heaven.

But who knows, she could just be hot.

"I just forgive myself for bad acting when it comes to those things." - Kirsten Dunst, in reference to the "blue-screen stuff"

the artist/art divide

Last summer I spent a weekend at my great aunt's house in Visalia, CA (near Fresno) because of some financial problems with my grandma's sister's niece. Ya, its complicated, messy, and all that jazz, but thankfully all I had to do was drive and look pretty, so I didn't have to deal with all the paper and phone calls. Well, with nothing to do (seriously, only the God of Sarah could make the place less barren) my sister and I decided to go see a movie. While we were trying to decide what to see, one of my family members decided to chime in: "You can't see War of the Worlds, I won't allow you, I'm boycotting that film because Tom Cruise is in it."

"That's ok," I said, "I've already seen it anyway. I didn't like it."

"Good," they replied.

This is way back when Tom Cruise went couch hopping on Oprah and everything he said was either about Scientology or Katie Holmes and her openness to Scientology. So this person was either reacting unfavorably to his Scientology antics or his woman antics. If I thought it worth it, I would have continued the conversation and found out which, but I could immediately see that their emotional stance would have gotten in the way of a possibly enriching dialogue. So I just let them do their thing.

The reason I bring this up is because of a recent article I read at Christianity Today Online about one of the actor's in last year's movie End of the Spear. The movie is about the five missionaries who were speared to death in the quest to evangelize a tribe in jungles of Ecuador. I haven't seen the movie, so I can't comment on its merit, but I do have a few words to say about the gay actor Chad Allen who took the role of one the five missionaries. Ya that's right, gay. The article, titled "Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor", was written to... well, explain the hiring of a gay actor.

And I think they do that quite well. But the bone I am eager to pick is the fact that they had to explain it at all. We Christians can be so egotistical at times. Our "greater-than-though" demeanor is the reason so many people don't give Christianity a second thought. And why should they? If we are always huddled in our holy buildings talking about how lost "those sinners" are out there and how much they need us and our message, we are bound to eventually piss them off.

I may not agree with the lifestyle of Chad Allen, but since when has anyone's life really been "agreeable". Mine certainly isn't. And, dare I say, your's isn't too shiny either. So to suggest that a sinner can not be a part of the declaration of love, goodness, truth, and beauty is to suggest that the whole world shut up.

For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. - Romans 3:23

To say that a sinner, a homosexual in this case, has nothing of value to contribute to the world is a statement based on nothing but discomfort and hate. We don't like the idea that a homosexual might have something to say or show us that might be enlightening, so we just label him an outcast. We avoid talking to them, and distance ourselves from them in hopes that they will never come around and make us feel uncomfortable or wary.

I am a fan of classical music. All music really, but especially classical. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and Piano Concerto No. 1 are absolutely beautiful, and I have yet to find someone to disagree with me. But Tchaikovsky was a homosexual. So that's it. Your kids can never listen to Tchaikovsky again.

And while were at it, why don't we just take all of Michael Jackson's records and burn them in our back yards whilst chanting "Jackson's going to hell!!!" like good little soldiers of God.

The Passion of the Christ, a movie about the very act that has given humanity a ticket out of the fiery lake of hell, was created by a self-proclaimed drunk. Mel Gibson.

A lying and conniving drug addict has brought many people to Christ. Ted Haggard.

And some of the greatest men (and writers) of the Bible were liars, adulterers, polygamists, and murderers who went on to become warriors of God that put most of us to shame.

Am I suggesting that we overlook sin? Absolutely not, but we also shouldn't overlook God's knack of using the most sinful of us all for some of his greatest of achievements. Boycotting a movie because an actor's life isn't the way we'd like it to be is just as foolish as boycotting books of the Bible because some its writers' lives were not the way we would have liked them to be.

As far as my venture to the theater that day, we ended up seeing Fantastic Four. Oy vey! I would much rather have seen the disappointedly mediocre War of the Worlds again...