freeing my mind.
Welcome to the home of my writing. Between the blog and the book, you should find plenty of my thoughts on life and spirituality.
on the outside looking in
Most of you know that I have a passion for interesting stories; stories about people’s everyday lives, historical events or just interesting happenings that I would normally never know about. Normally, someone would find these stories in books and while I do like to read, I find that audio shows and public radio are more conducive to my lifestyle. I’ve mentioned my favorite radio show/podcast before, This American Life. There iPhone app has the entire archive of their shows dating back to its beginning in 1996. Some of the episodes inspire me, some make me laugh, some make me mad and many bring up a plethora of questions. I came across one particular episode from 1997 entitled, Pray, which did just that.
favorites
If I had a nickle for every time I heard someone say that they got a front row parking space because of “the favor of God”, I would have $2. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, I’ve been thinking about the idea a little bit: What about the 100 other people who got that parking place on that same day? Is it only God’s favor that gave you yours and random chance that they got theirs? Sure, I understand that everything that is just and good comes from God, but what is more righteous, your front row parking space set aside by God’s favor or parking in the back so the little old lady can have the one in the front?
only the strongest survive?
The idea of America being a “Christian” nation has always troubled me. For one, the mixing of secular government and spiritual beliefs is just a bad idea. (see history books) The other reason being that, in my humble opinion, I just don’t think we look much like Jesus. One of my personal goals has been to continually try to separate what the various cultures I’ve been surrounded by have taught me about God and what Jesus actually says about him. Recently I’ve been thinking about one particular tenet of our nation that has traditionally been attributed to certain segments of Christianity.
getting a kickstart
Due to the recommendation from a few friends and family, I started watching a television show on ABC. Shark Tank is a reality program that puts entrepreneurs in front of a group of “sharks” which is a varied group of business owners turned venture capitalists. The inventor/entrepreneur pitches their business idea hoping to strike an actual deal with one or multiple “sharks”.
daughters
It’s been quite an eventful few weeks since I last got a chance to blog. Lori, Piper and I, spent a couple of weeks down South. Mostly with family in Mississippi, but we also got a chance to spend a few days with friends in North Carolina. A few months ago this would have been considered a vacation. With a three month old, it’s more like a work trip.
good sunday, sir
So, last week my wife was perusing Craigslist. I’m pretty sure she does this every time she sits down to feed Piper. Obsession might be too strong of a word, but she really has a thing for staying up to date on the San Francisco public market. Yesterday, she found a guy that was giving away a baby crocodile. He was keeping it in his bathtub until someone came to adopt it. No mention of where the mother is. Anyway, so last week she came across an ad by a young computer technician. “Due to the state of the economy” he was offering free computer repair service to anyone that needed it. What?!?
between
waiting, breathing, listening
still, quiet, chaos
questions, answers, doubt
knowing, unknown, being known
be somebody
Giving you some more from Dancing Elephants today. Considering my last blog post, I thought this particular passage was relevant. I hope you enjoy it and pick up a copy of the book. Have a great week and I love you all.
solitary confinement
Have you ever seen someone in an awkward, painful or embarrassing situation, and couldn’t help but to cringe and look away? This happens to me a lot. If I know that something is making someone uncomfortable, I get extremely uncomfortable myself. The other day, I overheard a guy ask this girl out. She said no. I was stuck on the subway when it happened, so I just closed my eyes and turned on some blues music. The same thing happened to me whenever I saw one of these infamous Charlie Sheen videos.
walk like an egyptian
Freedom. Depending on the context, the word brings to mind various images. For my dog, Cash, it looks like being able to run on the beach without the constraints of a leash. He got to do that last week that with my little brother, Alfie. For Alfie, it looked like skipping out on school to take in all that San Francisco has to offer. For Lori, it means pumping some breast milk and leaving Piper with me for a couple of hours. (Chocolate is OK for babies, right?
