I wrote a song over the last week. Granted it was for a class, but it has some traction. I'm not 100% happy with all the words, but I'll post them here after Tuesday night when I play it for class.
It is kinda scary...
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
I Don't Know
It isn’t quite finals week but it feels like it…
“Only when grace is recognized to be incomprehensible is it grace.” - Karl Barth
Turned in a paper on Wednesday (the 23rd) regarding Karl Barth and Adolf von Harnack. And while the paper is done, this quote still comes back around to bother me and comfort me all at the same time. Last night was no different as the Presby group on campus had their graduation banquet and one of the main points of the evening was being a steward of the mysteries of God.
Now … I find myself a very practical, logistical, almost strategic person. When doing a task I normally can see most of the angles and many of the problems that could arise from any number of situations. I am a firm believer in Murphy’s Law and to some extent enjoy a good challenge. Yet through all of this I try to be aware of where and when God moves through all of these things. I have seen moderately planned events that should have been stressful turn out like roses. I have seen the most structured plans go off the deep end and drown. In both of these cases I have seen God affect lives and work through hearts.
It is in these mysteries that I find an odd combination of peace and nervousness. I want to understand, I want to know, I want to have something tangible to grab onto. I want to have a little bit of God in a box, just to say that I understand that much. That isn’t to say that I don’t understand the purpose of everything that has been done, but the ‘how?’ and from time to time the ‘why?’ trip me up. When dealing with a mystery we, or at least I, want to find out the answer. And where there is no answer, then I have to accept the fact that it is a mystery and … be OK with that? …
I forget how one of my professors put it but the basic idea was to ‘dwell with the mysteries of God.’ Dwell is an interesting word and it is almost ‘living by choice’ rather than just ‘being among.’ I think there are some mysteries that I dwell with, although I can’t describe them. Other mysteries have maybe come over and spent the night. Perhaps there are some that I dwell with that I don’t even know about. More than anything I think the acceptance of the mysteries of God allows me to say ‘I don’t know.’ And there is a peace in those words, some tension, but a peace an humbling that works as a reminder to recognize that there are things that are incomprehensible.
“Only when grace is recognized to be incomprehensible is it grace.” - Karl Barth
Turned in a paper on Wednesday (the 23rd) regarding Karl Barth and Adolf von Harnack. And while the paper is done, this quote still comes back around to bother me and comfort me all at the same time. Last night was no different as the Presby group on campus had their graduation banquet and one of the main points of the evening was being a steward of the mysteries of God.
Now … I find myself a very practical, logistical, almost strategic person. When doing a task I normally can see most of the angles and many of the problems that could arise from any number of situations. I am a firm believer in Murphy’s Law and to some extent enjoy a good challenge. Yet through all of this I try to be aware of where and when God moves through all of these things. I have seen moderately planned events that should have been stressful turn out like roses. I have seen the most structured plans go off the deep end and drown. In both of these cases I have seen God affect lives and work through hearts.
It is in these mysteries that I find an odd combination of peace and nervousness. I want to understand, I want to know, I want to have something tangible to grab onto. I want to have a little bit of God in a box, just to say that I understand that much. That isn’t to say that I don’t understand the purpose of everything that has been done, but the ‘how?’ and from time to time the ‘why?’ trip me up. When dealing with a mystery we, or at least I, want to find out the answer. And where there is no answer, then I have to accept the fact that it is a mystery and … be OK with that? …
I forget how one of my professors put it but the basic idea was to ‘dwell with the mysteries of God.’ Dwell is an interesting word and it is almost ‘living by choice’ rather than just ‘being among.’ I think there are some mysteries that I dwell with, although I can’t describe them. Other mysteries have maybe come over and spent the night. Perhaps there are some that I dwell with that I don’t even know about. More than anything I think the acceptance of the mysteries of God allows me to say ‘I don’t know.’ And there is a peace in those words, some tension, but a peace an humbling that works as a reminder to recognize that there are things that are incomprehensible.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Breaking Stuff
So I have broken a few things in my lifetime. Some have caused me personal injury, others were a source of personal anger management errr relaxation therapy, some things were meant to be broken, and other things were not.
These are a few stories about the ‘nots.’
This idea came to me today as I have broken my capo for my guitar. For those of you playing the home game; a capo is a piece of metal that goes on the strings of the guitar to alter the sound that the strings make. It is commonly used to make playing songs easier instead of having to use difficult to maintain finger positions. A capo is basically spring loaded and I broke the spring. Now the spring is a solid piece of metal that, although under a great deal of stress, should not break easily. The broken off part would probably require a tetanus shot if I poked you with it. Now … Guitar playing lends itself to strong hands, more notably so when you learn to play bar chords (one of the reasons to get a capo). But I didn’t think I was THAT strong. This resulted in me going to guitar center and picking up a new one, but I did have a solid 20 minutes of shock trying to figure out what in the world just happened.
A memorial service will be held for the capo at a latter date…
The earlier memory was back a few years when I was playing in a high school youth band. Now … guitar strings break all the time, I don’t break them all that often, but when I do they are more of an annoyance than anything else. It is such a common occurrence that volumes of jokes have been written about the 4th string down from the top. However, in the high school band I didn’t know how to play guitar … just bass guitar. Now I didn’t break the smallest string on my bass, I broke the largest. This string (I just looked on my current bass) is about the same thickness as my capo spring. Luckily this was in practice so that I could just go barrow the pastor’s and play for the rest of the evening, but I received many jokes about the 4th string down and many comments of fearfulness that I could crush someone with my thumb. That and our acoustic guitar player would always break strings so it was his turn to get some of the sass out of his system. It was ok, he still breaks strings on a monthly basis.
I feel like I should have more funny stories about this … but nope. As it is my hands are going to have be registered as lethal weapons to musical equipment. Mothers, do you know where your pianos are?
These are a few stories about the ‘nots.’
This idea came to me today as I have broken my capo for my guitar. For those of you playing the home game; a capo is a piece of metal that goes on the strings of the guitar to alter the sound that the strings make. It is commonly used to make playing songs easier instead of having to use difficult to maintain finger positions. A capo is basically spring loaded and I broke the spring. Now the spring is a solid piece of metal that, although under a great deal of stress, should not break easily. The broken off part would probably require a tetanus shot if I poked you with it. Now … Guitar playing lends itself to strong hands, more notably so when you learn to play bar chords (one of the reasons to get a capo). But I didn’t think I was THAT strong. This resulted in me going to guitar center and picking up a new one, but I did have a solid 20 minutes of shock trying to figure out what in the world just happened.
A memorial service will be held for the capo at a latter date…
The earlier memory was back a few years when I was playing in a high school youth band. Now … guitar strings break all the time, I don’t break them all that often, but when I do they are more of an annoyance than anything else. It is such a common occurrence that volumes of jokes have been written about the 4th string down from the top. However, in the high school band I didn’t know how to play guitar … just bass guitar. Now I didn’t break the smallest string on my bass, I broke the largest. This string (I just looked on my current bass) is about the same thickness as my capo spring. Luckily this was in practice so that I could just go barrow the pastor’s and play for the rest of the evening, but I received many jokes about the 4th string down and many comments of fearfulness that I could crush someone with my thumb. That and our acoustic guitar player would always break strings so it was his turn to get some of the sass out of his system. It was ok, he still breaks strings on a monthly basis.
I feel like I should have more funny stories about this … but nope. As it is my hands are going to have be registered as lethal weapons to musical equipment. Mothers, do you know where your pianos are?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Musical Intermission
So I have a paper due this week (in 24 hrs). So here are a couple of fun pieces for your enjoyment by a guy by the name of Trace Bundy. Really stinking good guitar player.
Pachelbel Canon
Carol of the Bells
Your regular nonsensical drivel will return next week.
Enjoy
Pachelbel Canon
Carol of the Bells
Your regular nonsensical drivel will return next week.
Enjoy
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Musical Blogs
I have been trying to do this blog thing once a week since the start of this quarter and been doing an OK job of it. I find my life isn’t all that interesting some weeks, so from time to time I might have to make up some fake news, but there will be warning signs when I get there.
This week has been very … musical … I guess is an appropriate word. I led worship in chapel last Monday playing some of my favorite songs, more cause well I wanted to and nobody was going to get in my way so neyah. This was followed with many many airport runs (ok 2) where I played ‘airport taxi’ from LAX to Pasadena for a few friends who went to Cursillo for participation as well as staff members and one other traveler who managed to land around the same time as the others. This afforded me much time in my car with my slightly damaged Ipod. It still plays but it does have the minor issue that part of the screen is unreadable. These trips afford me some time to enjoy some good driving and good driving music as well as get a better feel for some of the lyrics that get brushed over as they play while my focus us elsewhere.
Thursday night was much fun. I joined my friends Josh, Rebecca, and Laura for a jam session of banjo, guitar, bass, piano, mandolin, and voice proportions. Rotating through songs and just learning a bunch of music while having fun around friends who I had not seen in a long time (in Josh and Rebecca - They got married over spring break and are not on campus much this quarter.) It was a very relaxing experience that will have to take place again.
Friday was lots of fun as I got to revisit my Cursillo experience with a few of the people who had been. It was a time of talking, remembering, good food, a little worship but in general it was fun to just revisit memories that I had forgotten about, and hearing from the new people about their experience as well as finding out that some of the folks over in Houston were asking about me. Odd, yes. Comforting, yes.
Saturday I took the evening out to go see Rosie Thomas in concert at Fuller for Art’s week. It was a very slow style of music but they were just having a good time. The band had gotten lost on their way to Pasadena, and ended up getting about an hour south before they realized they had gone too far. Their minds were kinda gone, but it was funny to watch. It was interesting to see Rosie who has a singing voice similar to Sarah McLaughlin (or that was my first and second impression) and then to have a speaking voice that was … well … not. Still it was interesting to see a very simple musical background that gave way to very powerful lyrics. I noticed a few things that I want to try on guitar, but that will probably have to wait some. It is a working weekend and I’m about 1/3 the way done with my reading for my next paper.
Final thoughts: Rocky Road Brownies (sans nuts) are quite tasty and I still have about 1/3 of the batch left at the time of writing this … ummmmmmmm.
This week has been very … musical … I guess is an appropriate word. I led worship in chapel last Monday playing some of my favorite songs, more cause well I wanted to and nobody was going to get in my way so neyah. This was followed with many many airport runs (ok 2) where I played ‘airport taxi’ from LAX to Pasadena for a few friends who went to Cursillo for participation as well as staff members and one other traveler who managed to land around the same time as the others. This afforded me much time in my car with my slightly damaged Ipod. It still plays but it does have the minor issue that part of the screen is unreadable. These trips afford me some time to enjoy some good driving and good driving music as well as get a better feel for some of the lyrics that get brushed over as they play while my focus us elsewhere.
Thursday night was much fun. I joined my friends Josh, Rebecca, and Laura for a jam session of banjo, guitar, bass, piano, mandolin, and voice proportions. Rotating through songs and just learning a bunch of music while having fun around friends who I had not seen in a long time (in Josh and Rebecca - They got married over spring break and are not on campus much this quarter.) It was a very relaxing experience that will have to take place again.
Friday was lots of fun as I got to revisit my Cursillo experience with a few of the people who had been. It was a time of talking, remembering, good food, a little worship but in general it was fun to just revisit memories that I had forgotten about, and hearing from the new people about their experience as well as finding out that some of the folks over in Houston were asking about me. Odd, yes. Comforting, yes.
Saturday I took the evening out to go see Rosie Thomas in concert at Fuller for Art’s week. It was a very slow style of music but they were just having a good time. The band had gotten lost on their way to Pasadena, and ended up getting about an hour south before they realized they had gone too far. Their minds were kinda gone, but it was funny to watch. It was interesting to see Rosie who has a singing voice similar to Sarah McLaughlin (or that was my first and second impression) and then to have a speaking voice that was … well … not. Still it was interesting to see a very simple musical background that gave way to very powerful lyrics. I noticed a few things that I want to try on guitar, but that will probably have to wait some. It is a working weekend and I’m about 1/3 the way done with my reading for my next paper.
Final thoughts: Rocky Road Brownies (sans nuts) are quite tasty and I still have about 1/3 of the batch left at the time of writing this … ummmmmmmm.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
A Little R&R
I have said this verbally to some people, but man … am I glad that last quarter is over. I can remember feeling like a punch-me clown that would get back up only because I had to and not because I was taunting someone. This quarter has been much more fun with much less stress (so far)
I think the first thing is that I am again playing Frisbee (aka Therapy). Never have I had so much joy from running around like a dog catching a circular object. I almost had a diving catch this morning, instead I have a small grass burn but it is better than stress. I turned in my first paper of the quarter without having to stay up late, or feel like I was in crunch time. I have had time to play guitar not because I am slacking (well I kinda am) but because I have the time to do so. I have four-day weekends. I have my internship lined up for next year. my room is clean and able to entertain guests. I get to blog every week (or do if I remember to). But mostly I think I don’t have weights attached to every limb of my body and a pack strapped to my back.
I don’t say this to brag but over the past couple of weeks quite a few of my friends have commented on how worn down I looked at the end of last quarter. Looking back I can see the concern they had at the time and the love that they showed. I owe those people a thank you for being a calming force in my life when I normally try to fill that role for others, even in the middle of my own personal chaos. I have never had this much peace when looking ahead to a quarter, my calendar is not filled with 5 million things to do, but has a manageable number of events, activities, and leisure time.
As this quarter continues on I know that I will get busy, but for now I have rest, and it has been quite some time since I have had it.
I think the first thing is that I am again playing Frisbee (aka Therapy). Never have I had so much joy from running around like a dog catching a circular object. I almost had a diving catch this morning, instead I have a small grass burn but it is better than stress. I turned in my first paper of the quarter without having to stay up late, or feel like I was in crunch time. I have had time to play guitar not because I am slacking (well I kinda am) but because I have the time to do so. I have four-day weekends. I have my internship lined up for next year. my room is clean and able to entertain guests. I get to blog every week (or do if I remember to). But mostly I think I don’t have weights attached to every limb of my body and a pack strapped to my back.
I don’t say this to brag but over the past couple of weeks quite a few of my friends have commented on how worn down I looked at the end of last quarter. Looking back I can see the concern they had at the time and the love that they showed. I owe those people a thank you for being a calming force in my life when I normally try to fill that role for others, even in the middle of my own personal chaos. I have never had this much peace when looking ahead to a quarter, my calendar is not filled with 5 million things to do, but has a manageable number of events, activities, and leisure time.
As this quarter continues on I know that I will get busy, but for now I have rest, and it has been quite some time since I have had it.
Monday, April 09, 2007
The Stone Age of Comics
There will be more laughter in heaven these days: Johnny Hart, creator of B.C., Passed away on Saturday.
As Becca would say "Sad day."
As Becca would say "Sad day."
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