Rocks, Birds, Trees: Who Am I?

I like St. Johns

2009-11-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

As of late I have started reading St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul. In reality, Dark Night is supposed to be the fourth part of a fourth part series from a poem entitled Ascent of Mount Carmel, but it is almost always published by itself. The first three books are a discussion of the sensual part of the soul, then of the spiritual part of the soul, and the third the activity of the soul. The fourth part, Dark Night, is supposed to deal with the soul’s passivity or “And the second night, or purification, pertains to those who are already proficient, occurring at the time when God desires to bring them to the state of union with God. And this latter night is a more obscure and dark and terrible purgation, as we shall say afterwards”

I may go back and read the rest of Ascent, but at this point I feel like Dark Night should be required reading for all Christians who are missing the spiritual highs and infatuation of their early relationship with God. Like all relationships, I have found it has lost its constant sense of wonderment and awe when I approach my highest Love. I do miss the joy and delight I used to find at all times by being within the presence of God. Yes, there are occasions when I am flabbergasted by the beauty and gracefulness of my Lord, but these do not sustain for weeks at a time as in the early days, but only for a mere matter of moments to remind me of the love God shares with us all.

The first part of the treatise discusses the 7 deadly sins and how these sins arise often in a beginner’s worship and jubilation. John cautions us to be mindful of our point and purpose in worshiping the Highest. It is not for our sake that we love God and enter into worship, but it must always be for the purpose of exalting the Lord. First pride, in which beginners often believe themselves to be as great or greater in their love for God as their spiritual confessors and superiors (John was a monk) and so go on disregarding advice and warnings. One of the things that has struck me as a I read this treatise is even though it is hundreds of years old, we still deal with the exact same sins today. The unique thing about this book is his discussion of sin are not sins that anyone can commit, but ones specifically in the context of believers. This sin of pride is today seen in those who forsake the church feeling they can do better on their own. It is also apparent in those who feel no need for a confessor. This is where my sin of pride comes in. I have always felt, to a large extent, that I do not need a confessor because I have Christ, but in truth Christ does not always provide me with enough accountability. If I tell Christ that I have sinned against another person by gossiping about them, it does not deal with the root of the problem, which is my broken relationship. Christ calls us into relationships and into confession of when we trespass on another. (Quick nerd fact: the crime of trespass was originally something you could do against the king. In fact all early common laws were not a suit against another person, but a suit against another person for offending the king. It is interesting to me that the KJV uses trespass against us instead of debtors because of this reason. Apparently to them, trespass held more of a true meaning, and I’d like to think it is because to trespass against another is really to trespass on the King, but that is just conjecture.)

In my next post: avarice, spiritual luxury, and Sufism v. Determinism.

baa-wesome

2009-10-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Watch this!

I am a time traveler

2009-03-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

First my source, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus Second my comment: What the heck are we doing with Mars?? We should be totally colonizing Venus. Colony Venus now (or as soon as technology really gets there) and then start terraforming Mars.

Additionally, this thought comes from a reflection from this morning. I am a time traveler, I can travel through time in one direction at 1x speed. And even though I am always living in the future my future is cloudy. The wife and I have no idea where we are going next, how we are going to get there, nor how we are going to pay for it all. We've decided that long term plans for us means the next 3 months.

I love this fact and hate it all at the same time, but I have a belief that God has plans and I am called to what I am for a reason. I always want to post well articulated things on here, but then I never do. So I am going to try to post at least one thing every day in April. Also that picture is an example of my ms_paint skilzors.

Obama Vision

2009-02-24T03:33:00.001-08:00

Ok, now I like Obama, I think he has great possibilities and is going to change the United States as we know it, but the associated press should be embarrassed by this http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gunNep6KibJweMVtOUQCuU-UQJngD96HS9GG1 its nothing but a love fest of how cute our president is. It sickingly sweet, heres the question I ask though, is the press being so nice to Obama because of his abilities, his charisma, or because in a failing economy it helps morale to show that the man in charge isn't worried?

Amen Amen

2008-12-15T21:59:00.000-08:00

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Star Trek the Movie

2008-11-23T12:08:00.001-08:00

Simon Pegg is playing Scotty in the new Star Trek movie. Now generally, I am not a Trekker (I refuse to comment on the trekkie/trekker debate, but if I have to choose I would generally align into the latter category), but I did grow up on TNG (the next generation for those uneducated out there) and thoroughly enjoyed the antics and science fiction of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew. I will probably see this movie and like most people, will enjoy it and never seriously get into a debate about its problems, potential, canon-anomaly's and the like. I am afraid of this movie though for one simple reason: dissension in the trekkie community affects all of society, particularly those parts of society aided by databases and electronics (i.e. everything in the US from the IRS to your local traffic lights). What will be the source of the dissension you ask, well that is simple, who makes the better James T. Kirk? Now the community has been arguing since the Enterprise has had two captain who makes the better captain and everyone agrees that it will never be solved and its ok because they exist in different times. Its like comparing Lincoln and Washington, everyone generally thinks they were great presidents but no one really thinks its fair to decide which was better. This new paradox, however, Pine v. Shatner, is one that is not as easily dismissed. At first, everyone will definately say of course Shatner is Kirk and Pine, while a good actor, was just a paltry imitation, but then people will start to look at it and some brave few will start to say that Pine makes the better Captain. In the beginning there will be shock and dismay at this and then ostracization but this movement will grow until they can no longer ostracize the Pro-Pine group. Then civilization will have much to fear. There will be a trekkie civil war with some of the most horrific tactics since since the Eugenics Wars. So let this be a warning, when the movie comes out we must stop trekkies from seeing it otherwise society as we know it might possibly collapse.

FAT-D and a Paper Route

2008-11-21T07:29:00.001-08:00

(I started this post in December and finishing and posting it at the end of March) I rediscovered For All the Drifters again today and totally forgot about Paper Route. This is particularly disconcerting as they played in the DC region last week and I totally missed them. I try to indulge in things that remind me of college as much as possible as it reminds me not only of good times but of growth times. Its only when I reflect on growth times do I realize that I am actually growing and transforming while I am here in DC. Now this is generally a good thing but I have really struggled the last three years to allow good growth to happen and make sure that I end up coming out of law school being a person I still like to hang out with. When I am surrounded by people who are cynics and poor listeners its easy to become cynical and no longer listen to people. I've maintained hope and positivity mostly through the help of my wonderfully creative wife, but its been hard and I am ready to be done.

I stayed up late into the night the last week working on a paper that is still not done, and really won't be done until the 19th of December. After that we move to London, but by way of Chicago.

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That paper never really got done, I turned it in but was not happy about it. When I turned it in it was only half finished because I was waiting for my partner's submissions and I never got it, I only saw the final paper. I sometimes think about contacting my prof and offering to finish it all the way because I feel like it will be important for litigation, but I just don't have the time. I feel bad because I try not to leave things left unfinished. The move to London was successful but London has not entirely been. I came hoping to find new friends and I have made good acquaintances. We hardly get invited to things and the things we do get invited to tend to be big drinking fests or beyond our price range. I've decided its no fun to be budget wise, it would be easier to just spend our money, but trying to leave enough to live on this summer. That is it for now. If I get all my applications done and my homework done I will post again later.

Judicial Soliloquies

2008-11-20T08:01:00.000-08:00

Chief Justice Chandrachud from Supreme Court of India: Olga Tellis and Others v Bombay Municipal Corporation:
"Those who have made pavements their homes exist in the midst of filth and squalor, which has to be seen to be believed. Rabid dogs in search of stinking meat and cats in search of hungry rats keep them company. They cook and sleep where they case, for no conveniences are available to them. Their daughters, come of age, bathe under the nosy gaze of passers-by, unmindful of the feminine sense of bashfulness. The cooking and washing over, women pick lice form each other's hair. The boys beg. Menfolk, without occupation, snatch chains with the connivance of the defenders of law and order; when caught, if at all, they say: 'Who doesn't commit crimes in this city?'....They do not contend that they have a right to live on the pavements. Their contention is that they have a right to live, a right which cannot be exercised without the means of livelihood. "

Bombay was trying to "improve" the city and wanted to evict these people from the pavements. I've seen some of these houses on the pavements. They are made up of cardboard, discard containers, stolen sheet metal if a person is lucky, and broken bits of plywood. Its a place where cows are showered with food, flowers, and gifts, but people are left on the street. I cried reading this, not because I can relate, but because I don't know what else I can do right now. I am so ready to be done with school.