- 8:25 AM – 1 large mug of coffee
- 1:30 PM – 15 oz. Starbucks mocha doubleshot (plus guarana and ginseng)
- 7:30 PM – several cups of diet coke
Someone once told me, “Man shall not live by caffeine alone…”
August 28, 2009
Caffeine Log
August 18, 2009
Common
Kingdom-chuckles resound,
While the scoffer sulks.
And you tell me,
“Grace in the common,
Divinity in the same.”
August 12, 2009
Frankl on Love and Sex
Again, taken from Viktor Frankl’s short but powerful work Man’s Search for Meaning:
Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved…; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved…to actualize these potentialities. By making [the beloved] aware of what he can be and of what he should become, [the lover] makes these potentialities come true….
Love is as primary a phenomenon as sex. Normally, sex is a mode of expression for love. Sex is justified, even sanctified, as soon as, but only as long as, it is a vehicle of love. Thus love is not understood as a mere side-effect of sex; rather, sex is a way of expressing the experience of that ultimate togetherness which is called love.
August 8, 2009
Tree of Life
This comes from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning:
This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge. “I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard,” she told me. “In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously.” Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, “This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness.” Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. “I often talk to this tree,” she said to me. I was startled and didn’t quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. “Yes.” What did it say to her? She answered, “It said to me, ‘I am here–I am here–I am life, eternal life.”
July 30, 2009
Summer reading retro/prospectus
This summer, I’ve been pretty pleased with the books I’ve read. But as soon as I get through one, a bunch more struggle for my attention. Here is my list, which includes what I’ve read so far since the beginning of June:
Completed:
-The Shack, by William P. Young
-Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
-The Prodigal God, by Tim Keller
-Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places – A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, by Eugene Peterson (translator of The Message)
Forthcoming:
-Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl
-Veronika Decides to Die, by Paulo Coelho
July 16, 2009
The Killers join the fight!
From MTV.co.uk:
The Killers have joined forces with MTV to stamp out human trafficking.
Produced in partnership with UNICEF, USAID and MTV Exit – MTV’s campaign to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and exploitation – the band have made a powerful video for their track Goodnight, Travel Well, highlighting the dangers of trafficking and the sexual exploitation of young women.
“We are deeply shocked and appalled that women and children are forced into such exploitative situations,” said The Killers, announcing the collaboration. “We hope that through MTV’s efforts and this powerful video that millions of people across the world learn about this tragic form of modern-day slavery”.
July 14, 2009
From “The Prophet”
And if you would know God be not therefore a solver of riddles.
Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.
And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.
You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.-Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
July 12, 2009
After noon
Faces fresh, they fly
through the city-grind.
calves burn and ache:
I am an avenue traveler.
Man feeds bird
feeds hatchlings,
Chinese take-out box
shaped rice, plenty
To go around.
Sweat-soaked socks
Kicked off with relief.
Cozy close with fans, ice-water,
Pillow.
