Strong Statements & Thinking

I'd rather live in Death Valley than Antarctica.

Freedom must be spread to all the world!

65 mph speed limits are stupid.

Yea for Saturday's.

Nay for 'nays'.

I'm tired.

Out.

If you you look at what I've written, the end of the sentences form a shape not unlike that of a logarithmic curve.

We had communion tonight. It was a blessed time, it really was. Communion's about remembering, reflecting.

Why do we sing songs? Why can't we just think stuff up and contemplate it?

I was sitting there, with my piece of bread and my juice trying to reflect on Christ's sacrifice for me, but it wasn't until I began thinking of that Rescue song 2000 Years Ago that a tingle went through me.

I just correllated a tingle to a positive spiritual experience. Hmmm... Actually, I can't be sure that the tingling was the high point of the service, especially at this time of the night. It's like I caught a small, faint, flickering glimpse of what Christ did for me. I need to go off somewhere tomorrow and just think about it. Think. Sing. Pray.

But my point is that songs sometimes touch you where thinking doesn't. There is, indeed, something to be said for poetry, for beautifully and meaningfully crafted words.

But it all depends. Songs have a way of guiding your thoughts, so singing Blessed Be the Tie That Binds isn't likely to cause you to weep at the Passion of Christ.

Marshall Notification

Dear Byran,

MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION 2005

On behalf of the Marshall Scholarship San Francisco Region Committee, I am sorry to have to inform you that your application for a Marshall Scholarship in 2005 was unsuccessful. I know that you will be disappointed but the Committee asked me to let you know that this year, with 98 superb applicants, the competition was extremely intense. They had real difficulty in selecting the small number of candidates for interview. One committee member said that it was really distressing to have to reject such high-achievers and people who were up there with the best. It is small consolation, but even to get as far as the selection committee is quite an achievement and they wished to congratulate you on that.

Thank you for applying, and please accept the very best wishes of the Committee for your future.

Yours sincerely
xxx & xxx
Marshall Scholarship Administrators
British Consulate-General San Francisco

I love NPR.

That being said, Terri Gross is slanted. I don't really hold it against her, because she does really good work, even if there are more "Critics of your view would say..." when she's talking to conservatives and more congenial laughter when she's talking to someone with views like hers...errr...liberals.

But I don't know that she really hides the fact when she's off-interview. She was on Bill O'Reilly's TV show, which is a show that I would've loved to see, my goodness. It was adversarial.

One of my prof's made a joke about Kerry-ing on this morning. I'm pretty sure he wasn't too happy about the results.

Golfing in the Rain

I was planning to go golfing with a buddy from school yesterday. We were going to leave from the school at 8 a.m. It wasn't raining at 8 a.m. About that time, I got a message from him and upon returning his call I discovered that the golf course didn't open until 9. No problem. Some time to study. But sometime between 8 and 9 it began to rain.

I will admit, at this point, that my optimism (or stupidity, as it turns out, not to confuse the two because they are not necessarily congruent) did not serve me well. I had unwisely decided to wear a windbreaker instead of a raincoat, reasoning that I needed something lighter so I could swing better and it might not rain and even if it did it could do the trick of keeping me more or less dry. Wrong, on all counts.

The ineffectiveness of my swing is hopelessly disentangled from my choice of outerwear. It was a downpour. The windbreaker couldn't have kept a mouse dry.

By 9 it was raining and it didn't let up the whole time we were out there, which was actually only for an hour or less. We'd step into the rain and swing quickly, then either scamper to a tree or just resign ourselves to our fate. The guy I played with really thought we should switch jackets because he had a rubber one that could keep the water out. He said it was because he was local and could change his clothes, while I had no such luxury.

My pants were wet for a few hours, but soon dried. My feet didn't.

I'm not sick. I made a memory.

Quanta

In my Materials Science class, we took our collective fingers and dipped them gingerly into the ocean of quantum mechanics. The professor made the interesting observation that, literally, a quanta is the smallest bit of matter than can exist by itself. So when someone exclaims that "This innovation represents a quantum leap in the field of xxx," just smile and wonder why that is worth exclaiming over.

BB said it's ironic that for Mennonites who are supposed to be non-political, we talk about politics more than anyone he's ever been around.

True, true.

Don't Ever Sing To a Soul Down and Out

I can't believe it, but it's true:

Provers 25:20. As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vineger on nitre (soda), so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.

And Randy added this as an addendum: ... so is it when Byran sings songs to his brothers and sisters when they do not want him too.

I can't figure out why Solomon would say that. I felt the need to apologize to my siblings on the spot!

In Not Of

I hear of a family that's really concerned about where this country is headed. So concerned, in fact, that they are considering moving to a remote South American frontier, particularly if the country votes liberal on Tuesday.

While a noble thought and sentiment, I think this would ultimately be a grave mistake.

I don't have a full perspective on this because I don't have a family per se, and raising their children is one of the main issues in this family's consideration. That being said, removing yourself or even your family from an evil society isn't following the directive to be "in the world, but not of it." I think it's our Christian, scriptural duty to engage our culture and to show them something better. We can't do that if we run away from the darkness. We should run TO the darkness so we can shine our lights. As the Chris Rice song says:

So carry your candle
Run to the darkness
Seek out the helpless
Confused and worn
So hold out your candle
For all to see it
Take your candle
And go light your world