Adidas remakes 'Star Wars' Cantina scene

A bold move, Adidas. see how many celebrities you can spot in this Wold Cup 2010 advert!

"He remembered Luther's inkstand!"

I find it interesting to see the intersection of thoughts and ideas. A few months ago, I was introduced to these two paintings depicting Martin Luther in his study, when he saw a demon and, reflexively, threw his inkstand at him. The inkstain was supposedly visible on the wall for centuries. Note the very different styles and artistic methods of communicating emotion and movement.

Tonight, as I was reading "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoevsky, I came across a passage where one of the characters, Ivan--who many have been hallucinating--has a rather extensive conversation with a man who purports to be the Devil. Ivan snatches a glass from his table and flings it at the specter, who exclaims "ah, mais c'est bête enfin"...which, roughly translated, means "it's finally stupid." He then says "he remembered Luther's inkstand!"

Great Lake Swimmers

These guys are great. Wish they toured outside of Canada more often...

Arcade Fire Announces New Album

It's due to be released in the UK and the US in early August. sweet. you can check out their new singles by clicking above!

Alie and Georgia Present: The McNuggetini

Best comment on the page: "warning! don't make this at McDonald's. you will be asked to leave."

Horrifying Ugliness; or, incongruous and illogical

"No light penetrates the darkness of absurdity."

So said Dr. David Estrada-Herrero at Westminster's Commencement Ceremony for the class of 2010. His topic was Art & Evangelism, and he was well-spoken and passionate. He bespoke of how the death of God in culture, in art, in philosophy has lead to terrible changes. We now see horrifying ugliness in the arts--nothing makes sense, all is incongruous and illogical. We see that the death of God in Philosophy leads to a distortion of and decrease in man's knowledge and awareness of himself. All is absurd; there is no hope in this picture. No light penetrates this darkness.

And it is into this void we are sent; like sheep, who have no real means to defend themselves, we are sent to spread the good news to mankind...many of whom have no desire to hear it.

This is my kind of commencement speech. But really, why should we ever expect leaving academia to be an easy road? Academia is the one arena of life that I have found to be simple, logical, and low-risk. One knows what is expected of you, in general, and how one may work towards success. It was upon leaving this arena that I realized how unpredictable and chaotic the world is, and how much we are truly at the mercy of God in the midst of it. I found myself, during the ceremony today, missing the richness of academic life; the newness, the freshness of ideas and the excitement of working through them for the first time. And then knowing that you are in seminary, learning more about the character of God and our relationship with Him, makes the environment that much weightier and more stimulating. I would never have said it, and it took two years to get to this place, but sometimes I miss Westminster. Not the New Westminster, but Old Westminster, when the Old Testament department was strong and professors were not getting kicked out of the school. All that aside, sometimes I wish that normal, everyday life was as simple as school, where success is achievable and risk is minimal. Suspension of reality, anyone?

Congratulations, Westminster Theological Seminary Class of 2010!

Closure for the McGowan family

Finally, some closure for the McGowan Family. See my post on 11.14.2007 for the context (the title of this post is a link).
The man who fired the killing shot at Jayne McGowan was convicted today of life imprisonment+. At least now this part of the struggle for the family is over; now they just have the rest of their lives to get through without their daughter and sister.

Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why.

"The Charge Of The Light Brigade"
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
[Written 1854]


Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Risk Assessment

It is nearly April, and I thought I might update you all (whomever you are) on the year's progress, 2010 being the Year of Living Dangerously. This involves resisting the urge to self-protect, particularly in situations where risk is necessary. The issue with this is that, however necessary it is to take such chances, this does not make them safe. As people, we desire safety, security, predictability. This is not life. We cannot predict the future, and we certainly cannot control all the extraneous variables in life...and yet, we still try to do so. We seek to assess the risk of a given situation and then act accordingly in whichever way seems most likely to protect us from harm. Do not misunderstand me; I am not saying that one should not check one's harness, anchor, and carabiners before going rock climbing--to not do so would be foolish. I would compare this equipment check to anchoring ourselves to the Lord with the full knowledge that He can and will protect and guide us. What I struggle with is when to take further measures to minimize risk out of fear. Fear is a powerful thing. It can keep us from taking chances when we most need to, to go out on a limb when it matters most. But what happens when we do take the risk, when we climb out on that limb, and then fall to the ground? It is reasonably certain that this will happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Alas! Not all of our risks will be rewarded with success. What do we do then? Allow this to exacerbate our pre-existing fears? Of course not. But the temptation to do so is there. Perhaps this is when we must return to the Lord, realizing that we cannot always understand what He intends for our lives. Much as I would wish this could be the case, it is simply not so. That must be what makes it faith.

Onions Have Layers

I believe people have layers as well. My Community Group is an excellent place to discuss such matters, as we did this evening. Conversation was sparked in reference to our pastor's sermon from this morning, on John 15.9-17, as we considered the topic of relationships and what the Lord calls us to be in them. Our instincts tell us to play it safe, to keep things superficial and protect ourselves; the Lord's commands are not nearly as conservative! Not only are we called to love others as Christ has loved us (which is a difficult enough task), Jesus further defines this call by telling us that we are to lay down our lives for our friends. Now, an interesting point was made tonight, in that it could be easier to conceptualize taking a bullet for someone than to walk with them on a day-to-day basis through the muck and mire of this fallen world. Who wouldn't choose a discrete period of pain (or death?) over a potentially innumerable number of days of emotional and psychological angst? Could it be said that the intense, possibly short-lived experience of the martyr might be easier than the extended, grief-filled lifetime of the saint?

And yet, this is what love is. This is what Christ has done for us--He has made life (and love) in a fallen world possible--even if it is never easy. Perhaps we could brush this command off as impossible if He Himself had not already walked this path, if He had never been tempted; this, however, is not the case. The Lord was tempted, and He endured all sorts of suffering...not merely physical, but emotional and mental suffering as well. Who are we to expect that we would be spared similar experience? What arrogance! Nevertheless, we can draw a great deal of comfort from the fact that the Lord *did* endure, to great and godly ends, His life on this earth. And He did not leave us helpless--no. He has and will equip is in trial and relationship to embody Him, if we are willing to put forth the effort. And let's not forget that this requires a significant amount of effort, self-sacrifice, and the willingness to make ourselves vulnerable to every sort of pain. We must abandon all illusions of self-sufficiency along with our selfish goals in relationships. We are guaranteed to mess things up every time we lose our focus and our desperate grip on Him.

By now, you are probably wondering at the dragon image attached to this post. It is Eustace Scrubb, the self-centred cousin of the Pevensies from C. S. Lewis' "Voyage of the Dawn Treader." If you remember, he is turned into a dragon during the story. At first he finds this to be a pleasant change, but as he realizes how he is distanced from mankind he falls into despair. Aslan comes to him and tells him that he can regain his former shape by shedding his dragon skin...so Eustace begins the process of removing his layers. Much to his horror, there are more layers than he realized between his dragon-self and his boy-self. Only when he sees his inadequacy does Alsan step in and offer assistance. Making one large, deep, and quite painful cut, Aslan removes the outer shell of Eustace and exposes the boy within. Much like Eustace, we need the Lord's help to remove our protective shells and to live as unmasked little boys and girls.

2010: The Year of Living Dangerously!

2009 was the year of Adventure. Now, I know that it is already February, but it has taken this long for me to become inspired. I was talking with my friend the other day, and we both expressed the desire to live more dangerously. To traverse the line between taking calculated risks and reckless risks; to stop worrying so much about playing it safe and realize that risk is involved with everything that is thrilling and fun. All too often we value personal comfort and security over adventure and exploration; could this be why we feel stuck in the doldrums of stagnant experience? Possibly.

Now, how does this relate to our spiritual lives, you ask. I would argue that our efforts to protect ourselves demonstrates a lack of faith and confidence in the Lord and in His plans. Is it not better to place our trust in Him, who is actually trustworthy, than to trust our own feeble measures of self-protection? I for one am fallible, and my plans regularly go astray. Would it not make more sense, logically, to accept the fact that the Lord does know what He's doing...and that this does not guarantee comfort and security? To let go of our obsession with feeling safe and secure, and embrace living dangerously in the Lord's plans for us?

2009, The Year of Adventure: Fin.

Well, the year has come to a close, and this is my final post on the subject of Adventure and 2009. While I do not yet know what kind of shenanigans 2010 will bring us, I certainly look forward to finding out! And with any luck, you, my faithful readers, will be a part of it all. Below, find the list of things I wanted to accomplish during the past year...X's are things I got to do!

-Roadtrip to Boston X
-Drop everything and leave town XX
-Visit the West Coast X
-Buy a new car X
-Take up a new sport X
-Dance all night X
-Explore more of PA XX
-Visit the South XX
-Make 2+ trips to NYC X
-explore Philly XX
-Get Injured XX
-Go camping one week-end X
-Go to a shooting range
-Live a Sufjan Stevens song X
-More Rockclimbing, always. X
-go to a Celtic festival X
-Hike PA X
-Go Whitewater Rafting

Pioneers! O Pioneers!

Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!

For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Have the elder races halted?
Do they droop and end their lesson, wearied over there beyond the
seas?
We take up the task eternal, and the burden and the lesson,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We detachments steady throwing,
Down the edges, through the passes, up the mountains steep,
Conquering, holding, daring, venturing as we go the unknown ways,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

We primeval forests felling,
We the rivers stemming, vexing we and piercing deep the mines
within,
We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Colorado men are we,
From the peaks gigantic, from the great sierras and the high
plateaus,
From the mine and from the gully, from the hunting trail we come,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

From Nebraska, from Arkansas,
Central inland race are we, from Missouri, with the continental
blood intervein'd,
All the hands of comrades clasping, all the Southern, all the
Northern,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O resistless restless race!
O beloved race in all! O my breast aches with tender love for all!
O I mourn and yet exult, I am rapt with love for all,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Raise the mighty mother mistress,
Waving high the delicate mistress, over all the starry mistress,
(bend your heads all,)
Raise the fang'd and warlike mistress, stern, impassive, weapon'd
mistress,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

See my children, resolute children,
By those swarms upon our rear we must never yield or falter,
Ages back in ghostly millions frowning there behind us urging,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

On and on the compact ranks,
With accessions ever waiting, with the places of the dead quickly
fill'd,
Through the battle, through defeat, moving yet and never stopping,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O to die advancing on!
Are there some of us to droop and die? has the hour come?
Then upon the march we fittest die, soon and sure the gap is fill'd.
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the pulses of the world,
Falling in they beat for us, with the Western movement beat,
Holding single or together, steady moving to the front, all for us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Life's involv'd and varied pageants,
All the forms and shows, all the workmen at their work,
All the seamen and the landsmen, all the masters with their slaves,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

All the hapless silent lovers,
All the prisoners in the prisons, all the righteous and the wicked,
All the joyous, all the sorrowing, all the living, all the dying,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

I too with my soul and body,
We, a curious trio, picking, wandering on our way,
Through these shores amid the shadows, with the apparitions
pressing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Lo, the darting bowling orb!
Lo, the brother orbs around, all the clustering suns and planets,
All the dazzling days, all the mystic nights with dreams,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

These are of us, they are with us,
All for primal needed work, while the followers there in embryo wait
behind,
We to-day's procession heading, we the route for travel clearing,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

O you daughters of the West!
O you young and elder daughters! O you mothers and you wives!
Never must you be divided, in our ranks you move united,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Minstrels latent on the prairies!
(Shrouded bards of other lands, you may rest, you have done your
work,)
Soon I hear you coming warbling, soon you rise and tramp amid us,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Not for delectations sweet,
Not the cushion and the slipper, not the peaceful and the studious,
Not the riches safe and palling, not for us the tame enjoyment,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Do the feasters gluttonous feast?
Do the corpulent sleepers sleep? have they lock'd and bolted doors?
Still be ours the diet hard, and the blanket on the ground,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Has the night descended?
Was the road of late so toilsome? did we stop discouraged nodding
on our way?
Yet a passing hour I yield you in your tracks to pause oblivious,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

Till with sound of trumpet,
Far, far off the daybreak call-hark! how loud and clear I hear it
wind,
Swift! to the head of the army!-swift! spring to your places,
Pioneers! O pioneers!

-Walt Whitman

this is nauseating!

...however, intriguing.

2009: The Year of Adventure, halfway point

So, it's June. How the year has flown by! I thought my readers might be interested in an update of how the year has been progressing, adventure-wise. I believe more things will be added as the summer continues, and there have already been a few additions in the past few months! again, X'd items have been done, O'd items have plans, and, as always, if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate!

-Roadtrip to Boston X
-Drop everything and leave town X
-Visit the West Coast X
-Buy a new car X
-Take up a new sport XX
-Dance all night X/O
-Explore more of PA X/O
-Visit the South X/O
-Make 2+ trips to NYC X/O
-explore Philly X/O
-Get Injured X/O
-Go camping one week-end
-Go to a shooting range
-Live a Sufjan Stevens song
-More Rockclimbing, always.
-go to a Celtic festival
-Hike PA
-Go Whitewater Rafting

Details in the Fabric

courtesy of Jason Mraz

"Calm down
Deep breaths
And get yourself dressed instead
Of running around
And pulling all your threads saying
Breaking yourself up

If it's a broken part, replace it
But, if it's a broken heart then brace it
If it's a broken heart then face it

And hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your own name
And go your own way

And everything will be fine
Everything will be fine
Mmmhmm

Hang on
Help is on the way
Stay strong
I'm doing everything

Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way
Hold your own
Know your name
And go your own way

And everything, everything will be fine
Everything

Are the details in the fabric
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling?

Are the things that make you blow
Hell, no reason, go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault
Of faulty manufacturing.

Yeah everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Everything

Hold your own
And know your name
And go your own way

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic
Are your thoughts results of static cling? (Go your own way)

Are the details in the fabric (Hold your own, know your name)
Are the things that make you panic (Go your own way)
Is it Mother Nature's sewing machine?

Are the things that make you blow (Hold your own, know your name)
Hell no reason go on and scream
If you're shocked it's just the fault (Go your own way)
Of faulty manufacturing

Everything will be fine
Everything in no time at all
Hearts will hold."

Ray LaMontagne

Ray is an artist that I started listening to a few years ago, and I thought I'd share a song that I've had on repeat for the past few days. It is good.

Be Here Now

Don't let your mind get weary and confused
Your will be still, don't try
Don't let your heart get heavy child
Inside you there's a strength that lies

Don't let your soul get lonely child
It's only time, it will go by
Don't look for love in faces, places
It's in you, that's where you'll find kindness

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

Don't lose your faith in me
And I will try not to lose faith in you
Don't put your trust in walls
'Cause walls will only crush you when they fall

Be here now, here now
Be here now, here now

The "Non-Asian Italian Flush"

Many of you have noticed (if you haven't, you're an idiot) that my siblings and I turn quite red in the face after consuming alcohol. I don't know if this article has uncovered why this happened or not, but it is enough to freak me out a little.

Kensington

These guys are doing some cool work...I may not agree with everything the say, but you have to admit, Kensington is desperate.

Unprepared.

I confess that I keep thinking that I will reach a point of preparedness, where I won't be surprised by things, by people.

This is twice this week where things have come up in counseling sessions where I have an internal monologue that goes something like this:

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!"

followed by this:

"My training did not prepare me for this!"

This feeling of unpreparedness, of not knowing what to do, or of what the next step should be--of how I can be helpful, or of what the Lord has up his sleeve--has caught me off-guard yet again. It is not a nice feeling, and leaves me somewhat paralyzed. I'd like to think that at some point (God knows when) I will have seen enough of the world and of the sin in it to not be shocked by it. Someone older and wiser than me (probably Terry Traylor) told me once that if I ever reach that point, to let him know how I got there. This is just another instance of the Lord humbling me to see that He is the only one who understands people fully, and that we need to trust Him for guidance and care...but my heart cries out that this is not good enough for me. I want to be superman. I confess.