lick and squint

"To live in the past and future is easy. To live in the present is like threading a needle." ~Walker Percy

FINALLY! Something about "THE DA VINCI CODE"!

OK.. this is really what Dave wrote about The Da Vinci Code. But I think it's good enough to link to:
http://slithytoves.sytes.net/~dave/wordpress/?p=1380

Or, if that doesn't do it for you, here's the next thing down, which also has to do with aliens taking over the world...
http://slithytoves.sytes.net/~dave/wordpress/?p=1379

at peace

Being at peace with the world is no guarantee that the world won't continue to make war on you.

So.. like.. be prepared for that.

Also, try not to be the person who is "the world making war" on someone else.. who is like, possibly, also at peace with the world.

and stuff.

doing the steps

I continue to encourage everyone to follow the AA-steps-come-transformative-Christianity progression here: http://www.getting-free.blogspot.com/

I think it's at the most something that could change a life. At the least, very interesting.

Off for a weekend of recovering from the weeks.. y'all know where to find me.

-j

saddest ever

One of the saddest things ever. I've got a song in my head.. have had for the last couple weeks.. and not the time to finish writing it.

: -
I hate that. It's like God gave you a gift and you're too busy to bother opening it.

I continue to work, really hard, towards a point at which I will not be too busy with things that I don't really care about to spend time nurturing the things which I do.

I almost got it right this time... I committed to roughly 3 "things" at once.

Two, next time. Two.

But I'm still here. For those of you with interest. Feel free to drop by, virtually or literally.

We've got the world in our sights and we're not gonna miss
but there's something a little ironic in this
Standing firm in the knowledge we're already won
we go gently into the war
yeah, we soldier gently on

And we're free to breathe under this water
yeah we're being turned into fishes.....

Misery and Company

Where did all these people come from... and how soon can they leave? ~rhett miller "Designs on You"

Misery does not really love company. Misery wants company to go away, and let it sort things out without the bother of all that crowd.

But the process of sanctification seems to demand that it circle up, anyhow. (Just like it demands that we do the right thing, for the right reason, even when we'd much rather do our own thing.)

Here's an interesting article on becoming more like Jesus, and how non-idyllic community should not be an unexpected inconvenience--rather, a tool for fashioning transparency. Transparency like Jesus, I guess.

(The downside to our being transparent, like Jesus, as I see it, is that when you look through Jesus you don't see all the nastiness that you see when you look through us. Looking through Jesus is like looking through a collideascope filled with cut diamonds. Our collideascopes, however, are filled with like.. liver.. or something. Ain't nobody wants to see that!)

Community Chest

Here's something from my community's chest that I found entertaining and educational. Hope you do, too.

The question

The question isn't one of morality, it's one of authority.

Do you follow Jesus because you need someone to tell you what is right, or because you believe he has the authority to?

My grandma, and a poem

My mom called this morning to say that my Grandma Caparoon passed away at 10pm last night. She was a good, slightly crazy, woman, and we will all miss her.

But, the time had come, and we were all fine with it, including her. She passed easily in her sleep, the way we would all like to, and I'm sure that my grandfather and Jesus will both be happy to see her.

It's been a rough few last months for Grandma, as she lost the ability to walk, developed pneumonia, had what appeared to be a series of small strokes, heart failure, etc... I am glad that she didn't have to spend years of her life fighting something, and that her interesting journey through this terestrial world has come to a peaceful end.

And now, an unrelated poem by Markus. Seems somehow appropriate, though, as I guess almost all poetry does on such occassions.

Waiting for Night (a fish poem, by Markus)

Swim swim quickley hide
I am waiting for night
Peek peek from the rock
Hyoo!
It's quiet
I am waiting for night

Nice job, Markus! (he got special recognition for this at school) His teacher said he just stood in front of their fish tank--staring at the fish and jotting notes. Says Markus, "I didn't know I had that in me, Mom!!" We all knew there was something in there, Markus... (though I had always assumed it was potatoes..) Good one, fella.

Free coffee, hang time, other beverages "real nice."

Newsdate Monday, May 1 ("May Day"), 2006:
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Says singer/songwriter John Caparoon of the "Youth Ministry Volunteer Appreciation Night" at the Windsor Road Espresso Royale, "Well, it was a nice party. And [my wife] Deb and I really had a good time. Got to hang out ... and talk to each other in an adult setting!. It was real nice."

Sources indicated that the local kid did a "great job" and "won over the crowd." Event organizer Greg Hunt commented, "[He] really ought to do that more often. ...everyone loved [him]." Even the understandably jaded employees reportedly found the set enjoyable.

Ironically, Caparoon entered his set tentatively. "I was afraid to sing at first. I held back until [Greg] prompted me, and it got more hoppin' in there. I was afraid that I would bring things to a dead halt, and it seemed like ... a nice conversation filled room. Didn't want to kill that."

"I will subdue you all with my screaming vocals! Ho ho!" the singer did not say.

Despite the slow start, things soon warmed up nicely. Caparoon stretched out with a one-man acoustic rendition of the Britney Spears classic, "Hit Me Baby One More Time," and was joined, impromptue, by an audience member who contributed both backing vocals and interpretive dance. He later commented, "When that didn't shut things down, I pretty much knew I could do whatever I wanted. ...I could just blast away at it."

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Seriously, it was a really good time and I'm glad I did it, and I'm really glad Greg asked me to. Thanks, everybody, for asking about it.