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

Jumping the Shark - 2012 Seth Godin post

This makes more sense (this only makes sense?) in the context of Seth Godin's full post, so you might want to click here: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/08/there-isnt-one-shark.html

"...have the empathy not to confuse your shark with the shark of the kind of person you're hoping to delight."

I think there's a healthy "mind your own business" to what he's saying.  ...a helpful, "you're not an expert, so stop giving your expert opinion on everything".  There's a chance I'm fully missing his point.  There's a chance that Seth Godin has jumped the shark.  This blog has jumped the shark.  Happy Days is awesome.

Amazing Ball Skills video

This sucked me in for all 10 minutes...

Presence of something bigger than yourself

"It feels right and good when you are in the presence of something bigger than yourself." Edward Welch (What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care?, 119)

On Doing Too Much...

“Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ.  The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for Him.  It is easier to serve than to pour out our lives completely for Him.  The goal of the call of God is His satisfaction, not simply that we should do something for Him.  We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles.  Are we more devoted to service than we are to Jesus Christ Himself?” - Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For His Highest, Jan 18)

The great artists steal?

"Good artists copy.  Great artists steal." - Picasso

"If you steal from one person it's plagiarism.  If you steal from five it's research.  If you steal from ten or more, it's sheer creativity.  And, I am a very creative person." - Rick Warren

Musicals and Songs - Sermons and Illustrations

On a documentary-ish video on the Disney Beauty and the Beast DVD (technically BluRay...sorry to be one-of-those-people)...the makers talk about how in a musical when you can't clearly express yourself through the dialog, then, it's time to express yourself through a song. 

And, applied to my job...in a sermon, when you can't clearly express yourself through explanation, then, it's time to express yourself through an illustration.  I'm sure there is overlap to this principle in many different fields. 

Empathy

A while back I read a blog post by someone that described exactly how I felt.  But, they didn't give any good advice on how to fix anything.  But, strangely, just knowing that someone else in the world had felt the same way made me feel better.  I think empathy is key.  And, I think articulating clearly is key as well.

"Abba! Father!" = Daddy???

Here's a quote that sharpens up something that I've heard more than once...

"...we oversentimentalize this word [Abba] when we refer to it as mere baby talk and translate it into English as 'daddy.'  The word Abba appears in certain legal texts of the Mishna as a designation used by grown children in claiming the inheritance of their deceased father.  As a word of address Abba is not so much associated with infancy as it is with intimacy." - Timothy George (Galations, 307)

 And, here's alot more information on the same topic: "FactChecker: Does 'Abba' Mean 'Daddy'?"
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For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
(Romans 8:15 ESV)

And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
(Galatians 4:6 ESV)

Laughing

I think that the same nerve endings that offend people can also make them laugh. 

...For good or bad...but, many times for good.

This implies that many times you're walking a tight rope when humor is involved. 

Shackleton Ad Apocryphal???

Shackleton Ad never existed?

"Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success."

 http://www.antarctic-circle.org/advert.htm

The only time in the history of the universe

I think it's important to make moments that feel like they are the only time in the universe that they will ever occur. 

My thoughts on Thom Zimny thoughts

Here are some Thom Zimny thoughts I came across that I think I wrote down after watching a interview (YouTube video? or the Backstreets magazine interview that I mentioned yesterday).  I think these are paraphrases, I put them in quotes, though:

1.  "Know all the ways your crowd is going to be effected by what you are doing.  Then, do your best to make these things quality.  If they are quality, then the one thing you want people to focus on will be clear."

In a situation with an audience, I like the freedom of not worrying about the unknowns.  Just worry about the "knowns".  And, I like that there is always (should always?) only be one main thing you are trying to get people to focus on at once, everything else is contributing to that one thing.

2.On Springsteen's London Calling concert, he comments that "the stairs become a character in the video".  ...which is correct if you've seen the concert.

And, again, I like what he's saying...it's good to always be looking for the uniqueness of the moment to make the situation unique/special.  For example, find the most dumb or unfortunate thing about your situation and make that your signpost for what will become most memorable moment in the situation.

3. "The live experience is not perfect...embrace that." 

Good documentaries - narrators & cuts

I think that a good documentary doesn't need a narrator. 

I also think that they have should straight cuts...not fading (a thought influenced by Mr. Thom Zimny in a Backstreets interview).

I probably have other thoughts on this topics.  Also, they may be inconsistent when actually compared to the documentaries that I like the most.