The following is a true story that occurred sometime in the spring of 2007.
I was walking out the front door, headed for work just before 5 a.m. when I noticed a car idling in front of a house down the street. An older couple lived in this house, so I was curious as to why a car would be idling that early in front of their house, it wouldn't be someone carpooling to work with my neighbor and probably not someone coming to pick him up for an early morning fishing trip; was foul play at work? I was already in a heightened state of alert (threat level yellow) as a friend had recently warded off a burglary attempt on his home, so I crouched down, hidden between the two vehicles in my driveway and began watching and waiting for some clue as to what was going on. After a minute, the car abruptly roared to life, flipped a u-turn and raced up our half mile street and disappeared. Relieved, I backed my truck out of the drive and was getting ready to take off myself when a pair of headlights appeared at the top of the street. It was the same car! He returned to his previous position in front of my neighbor's house and resumed idling. Something just did not feel right about the situation and I didn't want to take off and leave my innocent family slumbering peacefully and vulnerable with this shady character on the street so I put my truck in park and killed my headlights, I wasn't going anywhere until this clown either revealed his intentions or left. After a long and uncomfortable couple of minutes he again suddenly roared to life, flipped a u-ey and disappeared up the street. I sat in front of my house for a few more minutes just to be sure that he was gone for good, said a prayer blessing my home and family and took off for work. Well no sooner than I got to the top of my street and here he comes again. "Oh how clever", I thought, "wait around the corner till I leave and then come back and sack my house...not on my watch you bastard!" So I whipped the old Chevy around and raced down the street in hot pursuit (by now he was moving pretty fast down the street). He took a couple of quick turns and I lost him down some side streets so I drove slowly down a few streets hoping I would cross paths with him again and then there he was. I was determined not to lose him again so I pulled up a foot or two behind him, if he had any doubts as to my intentions, there were none now. I was fully committed to, well to what I wasn't sure, for now harassing him until he got nervous and bolted I guess. My heart began pounding as I wondered how far should I follow him this closely? One mile? Five? And just how long would he put up with this before there was a confrontation? Should I stop and get out if he pulls over or should I just keep going and consider it mission accomplished? Wait, he knows where I live. He turned onto one of the main streets outside our neighborhood and I followed him quickly, again closing the cap between our two vehicles to two feet or less. He began slowing down dramatically and then put his hazard lights on. "Oh no that trick won't work on me you idiot. I am all over you!" I screamed as I noticed him throw something out the window. And then there it was again, he was throwing stuff out the window. It happened a third time and as I watched the white cylinder sail through the air I realized that I was harassing the paper boy.
Now, in my defense, he was acting highly suspicious, and was clearly looking to evade me once I initially whipped around to follow him (though in retrospect who could blame him). This little episode does illustrates a sad but comedic truth. If awkward situations were an Olympic sport, I would be up on the medal stand mouthing the Star Spangled Banner more often than Micheal Phelps.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
A Little Dose of Optimism
One of the highlights of Saturday morning is reading Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. Following is the last two paragraphs from her piece on 2/21.
"Perhaps the biggest factor behind the new pessimism is the knowledge that the crisis is not only economic but political, that we’ll have to change both cultures, economic and political, to turn the mess around. That’s a tall order, and won’t happen quickly. One thing for sure: Our political leaders for at least a decade, really more, have by and large been men and women who had fortunate lives, who always seemed to expect nice things to happen and happiness to occur. And so they could overspend, overcommit and overextend the military, and it would all turn out fine. They claimed to be quintessentially optimistic, but it was a cheap optimism, based more on sunny personal experience than any particular faith, and void of an understanding of how dark and gritty life can be, and has been for most of human history.
I end with a hunch that is not an unhappy one. Dynamism has been leached from our system for now, but not from the human brain or heart. Just as our political regeneration will happen locally, in counties and states that learn how to control themselves and demonstrate how to govern effectively in a time of limits, so will our economic regeneration. That will begin in someone’s garage, somebody’s kitchen, as it did in the case of Messrs. Jobs and Wozniak. The comeback will be from the ground up and will start with innovation. No one trusts big anymore. In the future everything will be local. That’s where the magic will be. And no amount of pessimism will stop it once it starts."
"Perhaps the biggest factor behind the new pessimism is the knowledge that the crisis is not only economic but political, that we’ll have to change both cultures, economic and political, to turn the mess around. That’s a tall order, and won’t happen quickly. One thing for sure: Our political leaders for at least a decade, really more, have by and large been men and women who had fortunate lives, who always seemed to expect nice things to happen and happiness to occur. And so they could overspend, overcommit and overextend the military, and it would all turn out fine. They claimed to be quintessentially optimistic, but it was a cheap optimism, based more on sunny personal experience than any particular faith, and void of an understanding of how dark and gritty life can be, and has been for most of human history.
I end with a hunch that is not an unhappy one. Dynamism has been leached from our system for now, but not from the human brain or heart. Just as our political regeneration will happen locally, in counties and states that learn how to control themselves and demonstrate how to govern effectively in a time of limits, so will our economic regeneration. That will begin in someone’s garage, somebody’s kitchen, as it did in the case of Messrs. Jobs and Wozniak. The comeback will be from the ground up and will start with innovation. No one trusts big anymore. In the future everything will be local. That’s where the magic will be. And no amount of pessimism will stop it once it starts."
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Going Negative
I've been feeling rather depressed lately. I can't seem to beat it, so I'm going to bleed it out on paper.
A Bunch of Stuff That Really Annoys Me:
Standing Ovations. Somewhere along the way, the standing ovation got hijacked. The standing ovation should be reserved for performances so transcendent that they either leave you weeping in your seat or compel you to leap to your feet to shout and clap with wild abandon. My guess is that even if I had season tickets to The Met, I might only see three such performances in a lifetime. On too many occasions I have stubbornly refused to budge from my seat while all around me, entire audiences including my embarrassed wife rose in unison to salute performances that were mediocre at best. Yes, your kid was cute in the Christmas pageant, but he deserves a hug not a standing O. Please join me in the seats, let's make the standing ovation mean something again.
Bicycle Helmets. My wife and I used to make fun of people who wore bicycle helmets. Then we had kids and she bought them bicycle helmets. (Cue longstanding marital disagreement.) My friends and I never wore bike helmets growing up, whether we were standing on the seat with one leg, riding backwards, or bombing down steep hills and we never wore helmets. There is no better way to say, "I am a risk averse American wuss" than to put on a bicycle helmet.
Nuance. This word is used all the time in the media, usually to explain how brilliant a certain politician is, how he understands things at a deeper level than either his colleagues or you. The dictionary defines nuance as "a subtle distinction or variation". So when the media says something along the lines of, "Senator Wormwood brings a more nuanced approach to universal health care than his predecessor", they are implying that Senator Wormwood is so brilliant, so heavy that he can distinguish between a thousand shades of grey. I'm not buying it, whenever I hear the word nuance used in this way, I automatically translate it into its actual meaning, "unnecessarily complicated."
The guy in shorts and flip flops who passes you doing a wheelie on his motorcycle at 90 miles an hour. Always prompts me to shake my fist and scream, "if you crash - I'm not stopping to peel you up off the pavement!" This entry may seem strange considering my dislike of bike helmets. Nuance, my friends. Bicycle helmets and the flip flop wearing wheelie poppers reside at opposite ends of the safety spectrum. One is too safe, the other is too dangerous and in between lies that forgotten trait, common sense.
Guys who wear "Second Place is the First Loser" t-shirts. I would like to assemble a couple thousand of these guy in a convention center and force them to play musical chairs until there was only one winner. Everyone else would then be told they were losers and their shirts would be confiscated.
A Bunch of Stuff That Really Annoys Me:
Standing Ovations. Somewhere along the way, the standing ovation got hijacked. The standing ovation should be reserved for performances so transcendent that they either leave you weeping in your seat or compel you to leap to your feet to shout and clap with wild abandon. My guess is that even if I had season tickets to The Met, I might only see three such performances in a lifetime. On too many occasions I have stubbornly refused to budge from my seat while all around me, entire audiences including my embarrassed wife rose in unison to salute performances that were mediocre at best. Yes, your kid was cute in the Christmas pageant, but he deserves a hug not a standing O. Please join me in the seats, let's make the standing ovation mean something again.
Bicycle Helmets. My wife and I used to make fun of people who wore bicycle helmets. Then we had kids and she bought them bicycle helmets. (Cue longstanding marital disagreement.) My friends and I never wore bike helmets growing up, whether we were standing on the seat with one leg, riding backwards, or bombing down steep hills and we never wore helmets. There is no better way to say, "I am a risk averse American wuss" than to put on a bicycle helmet.
Nuance. This word is used all the time in the media, usually to explain how brilliant a certain politician is, how he understands things at a deeper level than either his colleagues or you. The dictionary defines nuance as "a subtle distinction or variation". So when the media says something along the lines of, "Senator Wormwood brings a more nuanced approach to universal health care than his predecessor", they are implying that Senator Wormwood is so brilliant, so heavy that he can distinguish between a thousand shades of grey. I'm not buying it, whenever I hear the word nuance used in this way, I automatically translate it into its actual meaning, "unnecessarily complicated."
The guy in shorts and flip flops who passes you doing a wheelie on his motorcycle at 90 miles an hour. Always prompts me to shake my fist and scream, "if you crash - I'm not stopping to peel you up off the pavement!" This entry may seem strange considering my dislike of bike helmets. Nuance, my friends. Bicycle helmets and the flip flop wearing wheelie poppers reside at opposite ends of the safety spectrum. One is too safe, the other is too dangerous and in between lies that forgotten trait, common sense.
Guys who wear "Second Place is the First Loser" t-shirts. I would like to assemble a couple thousand of these guy in a convention center and force them to play musical chairs until there was only one winner. Everyone else would then be told they were losers and their shirts would be confiscated.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Catching Up
The Plain at Suzaki by Utagawa HiroshigeI apologize for not posting on a more frequent basis. We've been without the internet for the past 6 months and so it has been difficult to get around to posting. We're tossing around the idea of going back online next year so hopefully I'll be able to resume a more regular posting schedule. In the meantime, I've enjoyed not having the internet cause I read a lot more books, but do miss it for all the little conveniences. I've been on a bit of a Middle East binge lately, here are some recomendations:
Books:From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman. Kind of a memoir of the time he spent as a journalist in the Middle East. Eye opening and pretty fair for a guy from the enemy paper.
Guests of the Ayatollah by Mark Bowden. Super interesting read about the Iranian hostage crisis from 79-81. I absolutely love the way this guy writes. Super thorough, never dry, covers all the angles. Stayed up way too late, way too many night in a row reading this one.
Vengeance by George Jonas. This thriller is the true story that Steven Spielberg based his movie Munich on. The movie was horrible, the book is incredible. When I got done reading it I wished I wished I had never read it just so that I could read it all over again for the first time. Disturbing, makes your pulse race.
Movies:
The Color of Paradise. This Iranian film is about a blind boy whose widowed father is ashamed of him. Beautiful, a real treat for sensates, moves slowly enough to let you feel it. Also gives you a heart for the Iranian people and their land (which was surprisingly scenic).
The Kite Runner. A heavy but ultimately redemptive film about two boys from Afghanistan. Again, will give you a love for the people and the parts of their culture not corrupted by the Taliban. These two movies are both sad and heavy, but I can't stand nor would I recommend a movie without redemption. Redemption doesn't have to come wrapped neatly with a bow on top at the end of the movie, but it must be there for me to enjoy a movie.
Charlie Wilson's War. Gentlemen, you'll have to avert your eyes during the first 3-4 minutes of this one, but it's clean after that. Interesting. The end will make you whistle and mutter sadly, "well, we really blew that one didn't we?"
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Taming the Beast Within
I ran across this opinion piece by David Brooks over the summer. I cut it out of the paper and keep going back to read it from time to time. I figure if I am still enjoying it 5 months later, than it is probably worth sharing.
The Meaning of Maturity
The Meaning of Maturity
Monday, November 10, 2008
Clean Slate
The Friday before the election while working in Houston, I turned on the radio to try and find some music to help keep my pace up. The alt country station I had been listening to back home (92.1) had become a gospel station. The music was energetic enough so I let it play on. This particular station was doing a remote broadcast from an early voting site and was interviewing local pastors as well as various people who were exiting the polls. Two things were immediately clear, everyone I was hearing was black, and everyone was voting for Obama. After nine months of listening to talk radio and reading my favorite conservative columnists, this was exactly what I needed – a different perspective.
The joy in their voices began to affect me and I found myself growing quite attached to these people on the radio. “Come Tuesday,” I told myself, “I will find myself thinking about these guys. If their candidate loses, my elation will be tempered by their sorrow; and if their candidate wins, my disappointment will be nearly washed away by their joy.” These folks were my brothers and sisters in Christ and that is a bond that trumps all political belief, regardless of how deeply held those beliefs are. Quick aside: I am a small government economic conservative in the tradition of Adam Smith first and foremost, and I believe that this view of government is key to raising the greatest number of people (of any color) out of poverty and bondage. So even though I feel that their vote was counterproductive economically, the point is practically moot as McCain was no economic conservative himself.
No matter what your politics, you would have to have a heart of stone to not be moved by the excitement running through the black community this past week. So it was Tuesday night that although the guy I voted for took a beating, I found myself happily caught up in the emotion of the night (made all the easier by the exceptionally uninspiring McCain). My brother, Josh, and I got to talking and decided we would wipe the slate clean, at least give him a chance. After watching the shameful ways the left has treated Bush the past eight years, we are faced with a choice: give it right back to’em or treat the left with the grace neither they nor we deserve. Choose grace, it feels fantastic. Sitting there in front of the tube on Tuesday, I could feel all the anger, distrust, and pessimism wash away. I feel at peace, happy, and full of optimism and all this without budging an ideological inch. Hopefully, the Republican Party will purify itself over the next four years and actually bring something inspiring to the table in 2012. In the meantime, I’ll at least give Obama a fighting chance and give him the opportunity the left never gave Bush. So, off to the honeymoon, it might be a short one, but by golly, I’m going anyways.
The joy in their voices began to affect me and I found myself growing quite attached to these people on the radio. “Come Tuesday,” I told myself, “I will find myself thinking about these guys. If their candidate loses, my elation will be tempered by their sorrow; and if their candidate wins, my disappointment will be nearly washed away by their joy.” These folks were my brothers and sisters in Christ and that is a bond that trumps all political belief, regardless of how deeply held those beliefs are. Quick aside: I am a small government economic conservative in the tradition of Adam Smith first and foremost, and I believe that this view of government is key to raising the greatest number of people (of any color) out of poverty and bondage. So even though I feel that their vote was counterproductive economically, the point is practically moot as McCain was no economic conservative himself.
No matter what your politics, you would have to have a heart of stone to not be moved by the excitement running through the black community this past week. So it was Tuesday night that although the guy I voted for took a beating, I found myself happily caught up in the emotion of the night (made all the easier by the exceptionally uninspiring McCain). My brother, Josh, and I got to talking and decided we would wipe the slate clean, at least give him a chance. After watching the shameful ways the left has treated Bush the past eight years, we are faced with a choice: give it right back to’em or treat the left with the grace neither they nor we deserve. Choose grace, it feels fantastic. Sitting there in front of the tube on Tuesday, I could feel all the anger, distrust, and pessimism wash away. I feel at peace, happy, and full of optimism and all this without budging an ideological inch. Hopefully, the Republican Party will purify itself over the next four years and actually bring something inspiring to the table in 2012. In the meantime, I’ll at least give Obama a fighting chance and give him the opportunity the left never gave Bush. So, off to the honeymoon, it might be a short one, but by golly, I’m going anyways.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Big Bend
Spotlights sweep over a thousand shades of green
Contemplating a swim on the border
View from an abandoned mine
"...under a black belly of cloud in the rain, she brings me white golden pearls, stolen from the sea, she is raging, she is raging, a storm blows up in her eyes..." -U2
Mas! Mas!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Solzhenitsyn Quotes
The following quotes were found last week in The Wall Street Journal.
From Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Literature Prize lecture in 1970:
The timid civilized world has found nothing with which to oppose the onslaught of a sudden revival of bare faced barbarity, other than concessions and smiles. The spirit of Munich is a sickness of the will of successful people, it is the daily condition of those who have given themselves up to the thirst after prosperity at any price, to material well-being as the chief goal of earthly existence. Such people-and there are many in today's world-elect passivity and retreat, just so as their accustomed life might drag on a bit longer, just so not as to step over the threshold of hardship today-and tomorrow, you'll see it will be all right. (But it will never be all right! The price of cowardice today will only be evil; we shall reap courage and victory only when we dare to make sacrifices.) Ouch! - JW
From a speech at Harvard, 1978:
However, the most cruel mistake occurred with the failure to understand the Vietnam war. Some people sincerely wanted all wars to stop just as soon as possible; others believed that there should be room for national, or communist, self-determination in Vietnam, or in Cambodia, as we see today with particular clarity. But members of the U.S. antiwar movement wound up being involved in the betrayal of Far Eastern nations, in a genocide and in the suffering today imposed on 30 million people there. Do those convinced pacifists hear the moans coming from there? Do they understand their responsibility today? Or do they prefer not to hear? The American Intelligentsia lost its [nerve] and as a consequence thereof danger has come much closer to the United States. But there is no awareness of this. Your shortsighted politicians who signed the hasty Vietnam capitulation seemingly gave America a carefree breathing pause; however, a hundredfold Vietnam now looms over you. That small Vietnam had been a warning and an occasion to mobilize the nation's courage. But if a full-fledged America suffered a real defeat from a small communist half-country, how can the West hope to stand firm in the future?
From Solzhenitsyn's Nobel Literature Prize lecture in 1970:
The timid civilized world has found nothing with which to oppose the onslaught of a sudden revival of bare faced barbarity, other than concessions and smiles. The spirit of Munich is a sickness of the will of successful people, it is the daily condition of those who have given themselves up to the thirst after prosperity at any price, to material well-being as the chief goal of earthly existence. Such people-and there are many in today's world-elect passivity and retreat, just so as their accustomed life might drag on a bit longer, just so not as to step over the threshold of hardship today-and tomorrow, you'll see it will be all right. (But it will never be all right! The price of cowardice today will only be evil; we shall reap courage and victory only when we dare to make sacrifices.) Ouch! - JW
From a speech at Harvard, 1978:
However, the most cruel mistake occurred with the failure to understand the Vietnam war. Some people sincerely wanted all wars to stop just as soon as possible; others believed that there should be room for national, or communist, self-determination in Vietnam, or in Cambodia, as we see today with particular clarity. But members of the U.S. antiwar movement wound up being involved in the betrayal of Far Eastern nations, in a genocide and in the suffering today imposed on 30 million people there. Do those convinced pacifists hear the moans coming from there? Do they understand their responsibility today? Or do they prefer not to hear? The American Intelligentsia lost its [nerve] and as a consequence thereof danger has come much closer to the United States. But there is no awareness of this. Your shortsighted politicians who signed the hasty Vietnam capitulation seemingly gave America a carefree breathing pause; however, a hundredfold Vietnam now looms over you. That small Vietnam had been a warning and an occasion to mobilize the nation's courage. But if a full-fledged America suffered a real defeat from a small communist half-country, how can the West hope to stand firm in the future?
Thursday, August 07, 2008
My Favorite Stretch
Don't pay the ransom, I escaped! Thank you for coming back after such a long break.
"Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise." - Rich Mullins
"Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise." - Rich Mullins
Friday, May 02, 2008
The Peaceful Valley
"Lord take me home
To the peaceful valley
Down the winding river
To your city of souls
I've grown so tired
And my hearts too heavy
To walk any longer
To your cities of gold
All my life I've longed for forgiveness
But I can't ever seem to get enough
All my life I've been rocked into the darkness...
Trying to find a peaceful song
Trying to find a peaceful song
To sing when everything goes wrong
Till the peaceful valley calls me home"
-Ryan Adams
There is a cemetery just south of our house where the kids and I like to walk and ride bikes. When I walk out my front door in the morning and head to the left I can see the military portion of the cemetery; the tombstones of soldiers from the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II and the Korean conflict lined up in procession, cresting and dissapearing over a gentle rise. Seeing those tombstones every morning is a handsome and needed reminder of the grim sacrifices made on a daily basis for our nation.
One thing that surprised me over a decade ago when I left home to strike out on my own was how hard life is. I don't know why this surprised me like it did, but it was a shock. I think the thing that surprised me, as it probably does most people was just how much work life is. As a youngster I guess I just assumed that once you got old you reached some point where you leveled off and then it was pretty much auto pilot from then on, till the landing. But at some point in my twenties, it dawned on me that everything is in a steady state of decline (home,car,body, holiness, relationships) and requires constant upkeep. So much work! As a young boy, I had always looked forward to Heaven, but once I realized how much work was between me and the grave, I was ready to throw in the towel. I'm sure you've probably felt the same thing from time to time so you understand me when I say this is not suicidal, but rather a weary mental submission to the inevitable. "Same sh*t, different day" and "no rest for the weary," that sort of thing. So I spent plenty of time daydreaming about Heaven, looking forward to the great escape. As I matured (slowly), my need for mental escapes grew fewer and fewer, but my basic frame of mind was still basically, "just grin and bear it, this too will soon pass, and then...ohhh! how glorious it will be!" As I walked through the graveyard last fall I still had a tinge of envy for those resting souls, the song by Ryan Adams excerpted above always running through my head.
Slowly over the last year my thinking has been transformed on the subject of Heaven. I read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell which kickstarted the process, and then recently read The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis which completed my mental one-eighty. I can now say that I look forward to and even desire a long life, regardless of how hard, painful, or full of toil it may be. Jesus has invited us to join him in a grand adventure. And it is! He has shown me to view every hardship and pain as opportunity, and toil as a gift.
Here's Rob Bell in Velvet Elvis: (silencio John!)
"When we choose God's vision of who we are, we are living as God made us to live. We are living in the flow of how we are going to live forever. This is the life of heaven, here and now. And as we live this life, in harmony with God's intentions for us, the life of heaven becomes more and more present in our lives. Heaven comes to earth. This is why Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." There is this place, this realm, heaven, where things are as God desires them to be. As we live this way, heaven comes here...
The question wasn't, how do I get in there? But how do I get there here?"
Finally, here is C.S. Lewis as found in the absolute masterpiece, The Great Divorce:
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."
So now, as I walk through that same cemetery where the trees are beginning to blossom, my prayer has changed from, "how long, oh Lord, how long?" to "God, I'm in. I want to fight down here, with these people, for as long as you'll let me, I'll take as much as I can get."
Everything has changed.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee,
Center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain
Call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving,
Ever blessing, ever blest,
Wellspring of the joy of living,
Ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother,
All who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other,
Lift us to the joy divine.
Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.
-Henry J. van Dyke, 1907
Paintings by Albert Bierstadt
These words are life giving sustenance and should be savored slowly. Like a smooth stone in the hand, my mind runs over them time and time again drawing strength from the power they convey. The lyrics to this song captured me as a young boy sitting in the pew. I remember taking a hymnal home and reading this song over and over. I couldn't get enough of it and eventually memorized it so that I would always have it with me.
The Greatest Song of All Time
The fourth movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is, in my opinion, the greatest song of all time. Much like the theme song to Chariots of Fire, it has been used in commercials, movies, and as the background music in various video montages, and yet its repetitive use has stolen none of its power. Clocking in at 25 minutes, it has time for two heart pounding climaxes, one at the midpoint and then the grand finale, either of which is powerful enough to induce cardiac arrest. Here is a small portion of the song with an eloquent intro from the conductor. Roughly 9 minutes long, this video is worth every second,(the singers enter at about the 5:25 mark).
An excerpt from An die Freude by Friedrich Schiller, 1785
"Joyously, as his suns speed
Through Heaven's glorious order,
Hasten, Brothers, on your way,
Exulting as a knight in victory.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.
Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.
Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell. "
An excerpt from An die Freude by Friedrich Schiller, 1785
"Joyously, as his suns speed
Through Heaven's glorious order,
Hasten, Brothers, on your way,
Exulting as a knight in victory.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.
Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.
Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell. "
Friday, April 25, 2008
Thomas Sowell (an excerpt)
I ran across a book over Christmas break entitled, Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell. It was eye opening and started me on a Thomas Sowell reading frenzy. In the last couple of months I've also read and would recommend The Quest for Cosmic Justice as well as Ethnic America: A History. I have learned so much about politics, human nature, and economics from Mr. Sowell that my head is spinning from it all, it's almost been too much information to absorb in that short amount of time.
So while I sort my thoughts the following is an excerpt from his essay The Quiet Repeal of the American Revolution:
"A quarter of a century before he delivered the Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln gave another speech, much less celebrated but all too relevant to our theme and times. In an 1838 address in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln asked where future dangers to the freedom and security of the American people might be found. It was not from foreign enemies, he said, but from internal threats. If and when the fundamental principles and structure of American government should fall under attack, "men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity" and "strike the blow against free government."
What is particularly significant about Lincoln's warning is that it was based on a vision of what human beings are like, and especially what talented and ambitious leaders are like. To Lincoln, the historic achievement of American society in establishing a new form of government was in jeopardy from later elites precisely because that achievement was already history:
While the ambitions of some might be satisfied with "a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair," Lincoln said, "such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle." He added:
What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napolean? - Never! Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. - It sees not distinction in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, erected to the memories of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves, or enslaving freemen.
That some leader dangerous to the basic institutions of American society would arise, Lincoln thought inevitable. Safeguarding those institutions would require a public sufficiently united, sufficiently attached to freedom, and sufficiently wise, "to succesfully frustrate his designs." Today it would also require a public sufficiently resistant to incessant criticisms and condemnations of their society for failing to achieve cosmic justice. Moreover, if the dangers in our own times were limited to those of "towering genius," there would be much less danger than there is. However, all that is needed are towering presumptions, which are increasingly mass-produced in our schools and colleges by the educational vogue of encouraging immature and inexperienced students to sit in emotional judgement on the complex evolution of whole ages and of vast civilizations.
Political leaders are not the only ones with a vested interest in opposing the existing framework of American society, precisely because it is the existing framework, so that supporting it offers no path to the kinds of glory that they seek. The intelligentsia have exactly the same incentives as Napoleonic politicians, even if the glory they seek is not necessarily direct political power in their own hands, but only the triumph of their doctrines, the reordering of other peoples lives in accordance with their own visions, a display of their own intellectual virtousity, or simply a posture of daring in the role of a verbal dandy. The easiest way to achieve all of these goals is to disdain the beaten path, as Lincoln put it, and to attack or undermine the fundamental structure of the American political system and society."
Thomas Sowell, The Quest for Cosmic Justice (New York: Free Press, 1999) pp. 147-149
Viva Tommy! Sheds a little light on things doesn't it? This is not only a bipartisan criticism, it also serves as a warning to look into your own heart to see the areas where you disdain the beaten or the ancient paths as my buddy John likes to call them.
"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'" - Jeremiah
So while I sort my thoughts the following is an excerpt from his essay The Quiet Repeal of the American Revolution:
"A quarter of a century before he delivered the Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln gave another speech, much less celebrated but all too relevant to our theme and times. In an 1838 address in Springfield, Illinois, Lincoln asked where future dangers to the freedom and security of the American people might be found. It was not from foreign enemies, he said, but from internal threats. If and when the fundamental principles and structure of American government should fall under attack, "men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity" and "strike the blow against free government."
What is particularly significant about Lincoln's warning is that it was based on a vision of what human beings are like, and especially what talented and ambitious leaders are like. To Lincoln, the historic achievement of American society in establishing a new form of government was in jeopardy from later elites precisely because that achievement was already history:
The field of glory is harvested, and the crop is already appropriated. But new reapers will arise, and they too, will seek a field. It is to deny, what the history of the world tells us is true, to suppose that men of ambition and talents will not continue to spring up amongst us. And, when they do, they will as naturally seek the gratification of their ruling passion, as others have so done before them. The question is, can that gratification be found in supporting and maintaining an edifice that has been erected by others? Most certainly it cannot.
While the ambitions of some might be satisfied with "a seat in Congress, a gubernatorial or a presidential chair," Lincoln said, "such belong not to the family of the lion, or the tribe of the eagle." He added:
What! Think you these places would satisfy an Alexander, a Caesar, or a Napolean? - Never! Towering genius disdains a beaten path. It seeks regions hitherto unexplored. - It sees not distinction in adding story to story, upon the monuments of fame, erected to the memories of others. It denies that it is glory enough to serve under any chief. It scorns to tread in the footsteps of any predecessor, however illustrious. It thirsts and burns for distinction; and if possible, it will have it, whether at the expense of emancipating slaves, or enslaving freemen.
That some leader dangerous to the basic institutions of American society would arise, Lincoln thought inevitable. Safeguarding those institutions would require a public sufficiently united, sufficiently attached to freedom, and sufficiently wise, "to succesfully frustrate his designs." Today it would also require a public sufficiently resistant to incessant criticisms and condemnations of their society for failing to achieve cosmic justice. Moreover, if the dangers in our own times were limited to those of "towering genius," there would be much less danger than there is. However, all that is needed are towering presumptions, which are increasingly mass-produced in our schools and colleges by the educational vogue of encouraging immature and inexperienced students to sit in emotional judgement on the complex evolution of whole ages and of vast civilizations.
Political leaders are not the only ones with a vested interest in opposing the existing framework of American society, precisely because it is the existing framework, so that supporting it offers no path to the kinds of glory that they seek. The intelligentsia have exactly the same incentives as Napoleonic politicians, even if the glory they seek is not necessarily direct political power in their own hands, but only the triumph of their doctrines, the reordering of other peoples lives in accordance with their own visions, a display of their own intellectual virtousity, or simply a posture of daring in the role of a verbal dandy. The easiest way to achieve all of these goals is to disdain the beaten path, as Lincoln put it, and to attack or undermine the fundamental structure of the American political system and society."
Thomas Sowell, The Quest for Cosmic Justice (New York: Free Press, 1999) pp. 147-149
Viva Tommy! Sheds a little light on things doesn't it? This is not only a bipartisan criticism, it also serves as a warning to look into your own heart to see the areas where you disdain the beaten or the ancient paths as my buddy John likes to call them.
"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'" - Jeremiah
Friday, April 18, 2008
Good Times for Curious Cheapskates
As a notorious cheapskate I am always on the lookout for free entertainment, well free anything really, and as a guy trying to figure out how this thing called life works, I am always on the search for clues. People watching and eavesdropping are great for both.
Now by eavesdropping I do not mean listening to entire conversations but rather little audio snapshots picked up here and there. There is no better place to do this than walking through a busy airport or crowded restaurant. I love hearing little snippets that give me insight into the human experience and fuel my imagination with their brevity. Some highlights from the last year:
"I sold seven units today!" From a man arriving late (I assumed) to a multi-generational table already halfway through their meal at a nice restaurant in Texas.
"So where are we at?" Attractive and mournful young gal in Starbucks to a guy whose appearance made me wonder why she even cared.
"They don't count calories in Singapore, they're called kilograms." Hmmm...not so sure about that one. Overheard in the Memphis airport.
"Of all of my medical conditions, it..." My personal favorite. This one I also overheard in Memphis on a seperate trip, it came from a very healthy looking young lady revealing her hypocondria to a mildly disinterested young man. I nearly laughed out loud. All? How many medical conditions do you have? I was power walking down the moving sidewalk so that was all I heard.
"I drank the whole bottle last night and I'm still feeling it this morning" Guy wearing a christian t-shirt walking in front of me. Brilliant advertising, dude.
Cell phone conversations are one notable exemption from enjoyable eavesdropping, especially on a plane or in line at the store. If there is one thing that puts me in a near homicidal rage it is when the knucklehead, er, gentleman sitting in the row behind me calls the office to check in the second the plane touches down. I sit there silently fuming looking like that guy in Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. There is NO NEED TO TALK SO LOUD THE BAGGAGE HANDLERS UNLOADING THE PLANE CAN HEAR YOU! Aaarrgghhh! &$#@! I'm getting upset just writing about it.
It's funny, sometimes when we are out in public, Jen and I will be talking and I can hear little snippets of conversation from all around us. She says my eyes bug out, which is true, because I am straining so hard to block out all the conversation around us and concentrate on what she is saying. Jen is not an eavesdropper so she is constantly saying things that would be great fodder for anyone within earshot. For example, while watching one of Cal's soccer games in a crowded bleacher she turned to me and said in a normal speaking voice, "doesn't that kid in the number four jersey look like he'll grow up to be a serial killer?" Hilarious.
Also fun, and especially at the airport is people watching. People watching is best done in pairs so that you can conduct your own What Not to Wear clinic. I enjoy watching people deplane from Vegas and anywhere tropical. The Vegas people always look slightly depressed and I am always curious when I see pale men in business wear mixed in with the tan honeymooners getting off the flight from Cancun. What, you couldn't spare half an hour to go to the beach?
It is always tempting to ogle attractive women while people watching but as a married man I try my best not to do this. In my attempts to avoid becoming a dirty old man I have developed the practice of immediately scanning the periphery when an attractive woman walks by. I do not mean to betray my gender; but you have got to try this - it is so funny. I have seen guys from 7 to 97 turn their heads on a swivel when a pretty lady walks by. Men holding babies, men walking arm in arm with their wives or girlfriends, men trailing oxygen tanks - you name it. It is so universal, so automatic you can go out and witness it today wherever you happen to be. The worst/funniest is seeing some guy trip over himself to hold the door open for an attractive woman and then nearly slam it shut in the face of a far less attractive woman. I'm sure I've been guilty of similarly transparent behavior, but the practice of people watching is hopefully teaching me some behaviors to avoid, and yes, slowly but surely I am learning what not to wear.
Now by eavesdropping I do not mean listening to entire conversations but rather little audio snapshots picked up here and there. There is no better place to do this than walking through a busy airport or crowded restaurant. I love hearing little snippets that give me insight into the human experience and fuel my imagination with their brevity. Some highlights from the last year:
"I sold seven units today!" From a man arriving late (I assumed) to a multi-generational table already halfway through their meal at a nice restaurant in Texas.
"So where are we at?" Attractive and mournful young gal in Starbucks to a guy whose appearance made me wonder why she even cared.
"They don't count calories in Singapore, they're called kilograms." Hmmm...not so sure about that one. Overheard in the Memphis airport.
"Of all of my medical conditions, it..." My personal favorite. This one I also overheard in Memphis on a seperate trip, it came from a very healthy looking young lady revealing her hypocondria to a mildly disinterested young man. I nearly laughed out loud. All? How many medical conditions do you have? I was power walking down the moving sidewalk so that was all I heard.
"I drank the whole bottle last night and I'm still feeling it this morning" Guy wearing a christian t-shirt walking in front of me. Brilliant advertising, dude.
Cell phone conversations are one notable exemption from enjoyable eavesdropping, especially on a plane or in line at the store. If there is one thing that puts me in a near homicidal rage it is when the knucklehead, er, gentleman sitting in the row behind me calls the office to check in the second the plane touches down. I sit there silently fuming looking like that guy in Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. There is NO NEED TO TALK SO LOUD THE BAGGAGE HANDLERS UNLOADING THE PLANE CAN HEAR YOU! Aaarrgghhh! &$#@! I'm getting upset just writing about it.
It's funny, sometimes when we are out in public, Jen and I will be talking and I can hear little snippets of conversation from all around us. She says my eyes bug out, which is true, because I am straining so hard to block out all the conversation around us and concentrate on what she is saying. Jen is not an eavesdropper so she is constantly saying things that would be great fodder for anyone within earshot. For example, while watching one of Cal's soccer games in a crowded bleacher she turned to me and said in a normal speaking voice, "doesn't that kid in the number four jersey look like he'll grow up to be a serial killer?" Hilarious.
Also fun, and especially at the airport is people watching. People watching is best done in pairs so that you can conduct your own What Not to Wear clinic. I enjoy watching people deplane from Vegas and anywhere tropical. The Vegas people always look slightly depressed and I am always curious when I see pale men in business wear mixed in with the tan honeymooners getting off the flight from Cancun. What, you couldn't spare half an hour to go to the beach?
It is always tempting to ogle attractive women while people watching but as a married man I try my best not to do this. In my attempts to avoid becoming a dirty old man I have developed the practice of immediately scanning the periphery when an attractive woman walks by. I do not mean to betray my gender; but you have got to try this - it is so funny. I have seen guys from 7 to 97 turn their heads on a swivel when a pretty lady walks by. Men holding babies, men walking arm in arm with their wives or girlfriends, men trailing oxygen tanks - you name it. It is so universal, so automatic you can go out and witness it today wherever you happen to be. The worst/funniest is seeing some guy trip over himself to hold the door open for an attractive woman and then nearly slam it shut in the face of a far less attractive woman. I'm sure I've been guilty of similarly transparent behavior, but the practice of people watching is hopefully teaching me some behaviors to avoid, and yes, slowly but surely I am learning what not to wear.
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