The Parable:
A man once was walking along the beach, scouring the sands for chests of treasure left behind from wars long ago. He searches through the debris and scattered rocks and shells for anything of value. Disappointed, he returns home empty-handed. If he discards the rubbish, what does this say about him?
The next day a small boy passes through the same beach. He sees all the scattered debris as treasure: he doesn't know any better. Turning over every rock and opening every shell, he happens across an oyster's shell still holding a magnificent pearl. But the treasure for him is not in the pearl's immeasurable value, but in his own wonder at the beauty of the pearl. If he retains the pearl forever, never cashing in on its value but always appreciating its simple beauty,
what does this say about him?
The History:
A group of nations once sat down together to divide the world up between them. "We are white," they said, "and we are better and stronger." Certainly, some "kill the Indian to save the man" and "white man's burden" jargon was thrown around...regardless, they drew arbitrary lines through a place now called the Middle East (and I don't mean Ohio and Iowa, though I am campaigning for MidEast to be the new title for the fake midwest [Colorado's got to be in the midwest--look at a map. This really probably frustrates me too much, but, sigh, we've got to be the freaking midwest]). Then they found oil there.
The Mystery (A Scavenger Hunt, if you will):
The Fly+Margaret Colin+imdb+"" = a synopsis
All of this refers to the conclusions I've come to. Maybe I'm wrong, but at least I'm entertaining.
Prizes available:
1 ) First comment.
2 ) Most clever comment before 11.00pm cst 12.11.06
3 ) First one to crack the mystery.
Oh, and you can't win twice, cause there's only one prize.
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Some Things Never Change...
I still care more. And that's all I got on that.
Fortunately, other things do change:
1)
Like my brother's medical condition, which continues to improve. He's still having some troubles keeping the O2 stat high enough, but he's detubated (i realize that this prolly isn't a word. i do not really care.) and has been walking around a little bit. We're expecting him to get discharged from the hospital on Friday.
Oh and here are some pictures of his car:
2)
The big news is still coming. It involves change.
3)
There is no number 3 tonight.
This is all that I have. I'm tired, I can't figure out up, and, most frightening of all, I think I may actually be happy with my life, or at least more happy than unhappy. And that's the hardest to admit.
Still licking my wounds, but wishing
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
Fortunately, other things do change:
1)
Like my brother's medical condition, which continues to improve. He's still having some troubles keeping the O2 stat high enough, but he's detubated (i realize that this prolly isn't a word. i do not really care.) and has been walking around a little bit. We're expecting him to get discharged from the hospital on Friday.
Oh and here are some pictures of his car:
2)
The big news is still coming. It involves change.
3)
There is no number 3 tonight.
This is all that I have. I'm tired, I can't figure out up, and, most frightening of all, I think I may actually be happy with my life, or at least more happy than unhappy. And that's the hardest to admit.
Still licking my wounds, but wishing
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Update on the Bro-Ham
First and foremost, thanks for all the prayer and support. Jon's doing a lot better. I talked to him for a little bit today and he said that he has trouble breathing and he's in a lot of pain, but everything's roses other than that. My parents went to the impound lot today to get some of his stuff out of the car and take some pics, which I'll post as soon as they get here. Apparently his car made the news as well, so my dad saved that on one of our computers for me to watch when I get home.
That's all I've got tonight.
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
That's all I've got tonight.
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
Sunday, December 3, 2006
In Other News
Hey, so, my brother was in a pretty serious car accident this morning. He was apparently t-boned on the passenger side of his car while traveling westbound through the intersection of N Carefree and Powers (if you don't know, don't worry; that's just for those of you who know the Springs). Somehow he ended up then colliding head on with an old (as in, made entirely of steel-reinforced steel) pickup truck that was stopped waiting for the light. Conditions were super cold early this morning there, so icy roads are prolly what set all of this off.
By the time my sister got there, the paramedics had arrived and were cutting my brother out of his now completely totaled Chevy Malibu. They stabilized him at the scene, and he was conscious and responsive. Well, right now he's at the hospital. He's going to be fine, I guess, but in the meantime he's kinda jacked up: 3 or 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung which has already collapsed once, a cracked spleen (which I don't even know what that means), and a small cut on his thigh which required 5 stitches. They're doing x-rays on basically his whole body now to find out if he fractured his femur (which they are relatively sure he did) or if he did any damage to his spine. He'll be in the hospital for the next couple of days while they watch something or other.
But the word is he's going to be fine, so thank God for that. I'm thinking I'm going to end up leaving my car in Colorado after Christmas break for him to drive around in, at least for next semester, since I only very rarely use mine out here. The really, really scary part of all of this is that at this point, my brother doesn't have health insurance. Which is just plain scary.
So, I guess I'll just say, Please pray.
Peace, love and joy to you all
By the time my sister got there, the paramedics had arrived and were cutting my brother out of his now completely totaled Chevy Malibu. They stabilized him at the scene, and he was conscious and responsive. Well, right now he's at the hospital. He's going to be fine, I guess, but in the meantime he's kinda jacked up: 3 or 4 broken ribs, a punctured lung which has already collapsed once, a cracked spleen (which I don't even know what that means), and a small cut on his thigh which required 5 stitches. They're doing x-rays on basically his whole body now to find out if he fractured his femur (which they are relatively sure he did) or if he did any damage to his spine. He'll be in the hospital for the next couple of days while they watch something or other.
But the word is he's going to be fine, so thank God for that. I'm thinking I'm going to end up leaving my car in Colorado after Christmas break for him to drive around in, at least for next semester, since I only very rarely use mine out here. The really, really scary part of all of this is that at this point, my brother doesn't have health insurance. Which is just plain scary.
So, I guess I'll just say, Please pray.
Peace, love and joy to you all
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Big Talk, Small Talk ~or~ If You Think I Find You Terribly Dull, It's Prolly Cause I Do
Last night I decided something. I'm not sure that I'm right, I'm not sold on the idea, but maybe, so here goes, we'll throw this out and see if the cat licks it up. In this world, there are big talkers and there are small talkers (and maybe [probably] a third category who does both).
I suck at small talk. Chatting with people about their major, or their name, or the news, or movies that are coming out, or the weather, or even sports is arduous for me. Painfully so. I think this is part of the reason why I hate meeting new people so much. Certainly, I am, at least somewhat, a shy fellow myself (and I just said 'fellow,' which means I win). But I just really honestly don't care about your surface level opinion about the next big thing to come out in movies. I think it's wasting oxygen for me to want you to agree with my tres intellectual observation that the weather's been different lately.
I much prefer big talk. Finding out who people actually are, what drives them to these opinions that they have about movies or music or whatever. I strive to get to a point where I'm hearing what people are passionate about--and I listen and remember these real things. If I don't remember your major, but I remember your passion, I count that as a win.
And so I think that people can get the wrong impression about me. I think that I often come across as wholly disinterested in other people. Which is only half true. I'm just incredibly underwhelmed with this prospect that knowing you is knowing that you think that Apocalypto is too bloody for somebody who makes Jesus flicks. That doesn't interest me at all. But the essence, that really, really, really does.
I came to ORU hoping that it would be a place of gut-level honesty and real transparency. And, more than most places I've been in life, it is. But it's still a place filled with small-talkers.
Small talkers can be wonderful people. And small-talk is something which I probably ought to get better at, and I'm actually trying to (to cut off that whole perception that I really don't care about other people). But small-talk works for about fifteen minutes. When you spend days, weeks, months, and years trapped in these small-talk relationships, it should be no wonder that everything seems shallow and meaningless.
I guess I just want meaning in life, in everything in life. And me telling you that I'm from Colorado Springs, that's pretty meaningless.
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
I suck at small talk. Chatting with people about their major, or their name, or the news, or movies that are coming out, or the weather, or even sports is arduous for me. Painfully so. I think this is part of the reason why I hate meeting new people so much. Certainly, I am, at least somewhat, a shy fellow myself (and I just said 'fellow,' which means I win). But I just really honestly don't care about your surface level opinion about the next big thing to come out in movies. I think it's wasting oxygen for me to want you to agree with my tres intellectual observation that the weather's been different lately.
I much prefer big talk. Finding out who people actually are, what drives them to these opinions that they have about movies or music or whatever. I strive to get to a point where I'm hearing what people are passionate about--and I listen and remember these real things. If I don't remember your major, but I remember your passion, I count that as a win.
And so I think that people can get the wrong impression about me. I think that I often come across as wholly disinterested in other people. Which is only half true. I'm just incredibly underwhelmed with this prospect that knowing you is knowing that you think that Apocalypto is too bloody for somebody who makes Jesus flicks. That doesn't interest me at all. But the essence, that really, really, really does.
I came to ORU hoping that it would be a place of gut-level honesty and real transparency. And, more than most places I've been in life, it is. But it's still a place filled with small-talkers.
Small talkers can be wonderful people. And small-talk is something which I probably ought to get better at, and I'm actually trying to (to cut off that whole perception that I really don't care about other people). But small-talk works for about fifteen minutes. When you spend days, weeks, months, and years trapped in these small-talk relationships, it should be no wonder that everything seems shallow and meaningless.
I guess I just want meaning in life, in everything in life. And me telling you that I'm from Colorado Springs, that's pretty meaningless.
Peace, love, and joy to you all.
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