Going to Disney...See you soon...

Alterra > Colectivo? This seems an April Fool's joke

For the Milwaukee reader(s)...

Long Week? ...Use your "rest"

The Pulley
By George Herbert

   When God at first made man,

Having a glass of blessings standing by,

“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can.

Let the world’s riches, which dispersèd lie,

   Contract into a span.”

   So strength first made a way;

Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure.

When almost all was out, God made a stay,

Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure,

   Rest in the bottom lay.

   “For if I should,” said he,

“Bestow this jewel also on my creature,

He would adore my gifts instead of me,

And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature;

   So both should losers be.

   “Yet let him keep the rest,

But keep them with repining restlessness;

Let him be rich and weary, that at least,

If goodness lead him not, yet weariness

   May toss him to my breast.”

When God Becomes the Monster...

"If one is oneself one's god, then God himself, the will of God, the power that would destroy one's egocentric system, becomes a monster.

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
     I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
     Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter."

- Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces

Who has 5 fixed years ahead of them?

"If a man had a fixed five years to live, he could not possibly think at all without intending to make the best use of them all...  Who but a madman can reckon that he has five certain years to come?  ...again if we were to add twenty years to the five...what a small thing this is." - William Law

Seafaring Imagery Part 3 - Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys

Not for the faint of heart, two minutes of ridiculous rock-and-roll-ness...

Someone from a YouTube video comment says it well: "This song makes me want to grow a beard, rip off my shirt and bare knuckle box a timberwolf."




Lyrics:

I'm a sailor peg
And I've lost my leg
I've climbed up the top sails
I've lost my leg

I'm shipping up to Boston...repeat alot...to find my wooden leg

Notes: 
In my five minutes of internet research to prepare for this blog post, I discovered:

1. I've been belting out this song at the top of my lungs in the car (aka - minivan) incorrectly for years.  I thought that the initial lyric was "I'm a sailor in pain...".  ...Which I have to say, I sort-of prefer.  Although, I respect Woodie Guthrie (see next point).
2. I had no idea that Woodie Guthrie wrote this fine bit of poetry (per Wikipedia).  That's what the golden age of internet-music / non-liner-notes music gets you...

Seafaring Imagery Part 2 - "The Seafarer"

One of my favorite poems...

The Seafarer
Anonymous
Translated by Margaret Williams
from A Sacrifice of Praise

Full little he thinks     who has life's joy
and dwells in cities     and has few disasters,
proud and wine-flushed,     how I, weary often,
must bide my time     on the brimming stream.
Night-shades darken,     it snows from the north,
frost binds the ground,     hail falls on the earth,
the coldest corn.     For this my heart-thoughts
are knocking now,     for I must set out
on the high streams,     the rolling salt-waves.
Hour by hour     my heart's lust urges
my spirit to go forth,     that far from here
I may seek a land     of strange people.
There is no one so proud     among earth's men,
nor so gifted with goods     nor so bold in youth,
nor so brave in deeds,     with a lord dear to him
that he has not sorrow     in his sea-faring--
too little the Lord     will do for him.
He thinks not of the harp     nor of ring-giving
nor of the joy of a woman,     nor of the world's hope,
nor of ought else save the     roll of the waves;
But ever he feels longing,      who goes on the waters.
The woods have bright blossoms,     the burghs are fair,
plains gleam with loveliness,     the world full of life;
all these urge on     the eager heart
to go journeying,     for the man who thinks
to go afar     on the flood-ways.
And the cuckoo warns     with wailing voice;
summer's guardian sings,     telling the sorrow
bitter in its breast-hoard.     The man who is well off
knows but little     of what they endure
who go in exile     the farthest away.
So my thought wanders     over my heart treasures,
my inner spirit goes     over the sea-flood,
over the whale's home,     wanders away
on the earth's face.     It comes back to me
hungry and greedy;     the lone flier cries,
urges unceasing     the heart to roam
on the whale-way     of the wide waters,
the broad streams.     Thus the joys of the Lord
are hotter within me     than this dead life
passing over the land.     I do not believe
that the wealth of the earth      will stand forever.

Seafaring Imagery Part 1 - When the Ship Comes In (Bob Dylan)

I love imagery of the sea...ships, masts, wooden legs, etc.  Here's one from Bob Dylan, with an accompanying NT Wright video (thanks Rabbit Room).

N.T. Wright Sings Bob Dylan from Thomas McKenzie on Vimeo.

Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin’
Like the stillness in the wind
’Fore the hurricane begins
The hour when the ship comes in

Oh the seas will split
And the ship will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking
Then the tide will sound
And the wind will pound
And the morning will be breaking

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they’ll be smiling
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in

And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they’re spoken
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean

A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in

Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin’
And the ship’s wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin’

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep still in their eyes
And they’ll jerk from their beds and think they’re dreamin’
But they’ll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it’s for real
The hour when the ship comes in

Then they’ll raise their hands
Sayin’ we’ll meet all your demands
But we’ll shout from the bow your days are numbered
And like Pharoah’s tribe
They’ll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered

3 Short Quotes on Planning

"Plans are nothing, planning is everything." - Dwight Eisenhower

"Plan your work and work your plan." - Anonymous

"I am busy because I am lazy." - Eugene Peterson

(From Going the Distance by Peter Brain)

Quote on Laws & Principles & Temptation from Jane Eyre

"I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad--as I am now.  Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation...They have a worth--so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane--quite insane: with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs." - Charlotte Bronte

(I came across this in the book Unseduced and Unshaken)

What will ruin the church...

"The church's greatest troublemakers are not those outside who oppose, ridicule, and persecute it, but those inside who try to change the gospel." - John Stott

On Improvement...

"If the devil cannot ruin people by wronging and persecuting them, he will do it by improving them." - Martin Luther

If I pull myself up by my bootstraps, it feels pretty good.  I'm proud of myself.  If Someone else pulls me up by my bootstraps, it also feels pretty good.  Yet, I'm not so proud, but more grateful.

I haven't had boots since kindergarten, so all of this has a hypothetical nature that comes with it.

Afraid of failure?

"Those afraid to risk failure seldom have to face success." - John Wooden