Update

I have one major paper still in the works - to be presented Monday evening.

Post counts may surge in the coming weeks.


Frustration is swelling like summer's watermelon grows
As the street kids be feelin' like nobody knows
Their loneliness foe.
Fatherless, these orphans are fed fat familial woes,
Aging beyond years like their hand-me-down clothes.
Stuck in a community that suicides them in droves,
Telling them to sell sex for twenty a show,
Suffocating them with poison, empty wallets for blow,
These ostrich babes are pros
When it comes to death,
Babes when it comes to Life's breath.
What's next?

Nearing the end

1 week remains in my semester.

Work remaining:

1. 2 Case Studies (15-20 pages each)
2. 1 Group Project (approx. 35-45 pages, nearly complete)
3. 1 Review Paper (17-23 pages)
4. 1 Research Paper (20-25 pages)
5. 1 1-page diagram

This one has been intense.

Words have meaning

Idealistic

vs

Idyllic

Ten thoughts for today

1. Misinformation is everywhere.
2. Good stories, whether on pages or on movie/tv screen, are without life if they offer no purposeful death.
3. Organization around oneself helps with organization within oneself.
4. Colors brighten the mood by brightening the eyes.
5. Water is an especially wonderful gift from God. It alleviates headaches, removes stomach pains, quenches thirst, removes bad tastes, stems acidic burns, boosts digestion, etc...
6. Simple and easy are not equals, and neither are complex and difficult.
7. Complex is not more valuable or desirable than simple.
8. Where were we when God laid the foundations of the world?
   
9. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14:34)
10. Get wisdom, get insight, get understanding.
    

Today's ten thoughts

1. The Lord has sent and answer to that last post. I will not be pursuing the further graduate school education I was considering.
2. Thanks be to God all the time.
3. This winter break is fantastic-ness in the making - I have put together a strong regimen of reading, listening to lectures, writing, physical fitness, and house organization.
4. Serving others makes you stronger and is evidence of wisdom.
5. Wait to know more of a matter, never rush into conflict.
6. Encouragement from one you respect is incredibly motivating and satisfying. To think we have encouraging words of God: Why are we not more satisfied?
7. Wisdom is more desirable than pure gold or diamonds or rubies, yes? What are you spending your days acquiring?
8. This thought is actually from yesterday: will the holy angels be "made new" in the resurrection?
9. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits."
10. "who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth"

More will come, my friends.

New way

I have been generating a huge word count this past year. My graduate program has entailed the production of more than ten thousand times ten thousand words. And I'm grateful. Such writing has kept my wits sharp, though I have begrudgingly offered them up at times. But, as I move forward in the program, part of me wants to move on to something more engaging. Don't misunderstand me. I enjoy my program. I enjoy the reading and learning and competitive thinking, but the thoughts aren't deep or hard. Or, that could be me and no fault with the program. This morning, for the first time in a long while I thought that maybe I don't want to go on to another graduate degree after this one, maybe I should just hang up the pen for now. Those thoughts have since passed and I momentarily tried to relive this morning's doubt. I have a hard time conjuring up such feelings, especially transient ones like depression. Life is too full of God's goodness to taste bitterness in the wind. I smell victory. And, smart people have told us that smell is more powerful than taste, and it sure is in this case. In a way, it's like prophecy, for the Promise I have been told is greater than the enemies I see.

I plan on writing more in the weeks and months to come, sometimes posting articles here that I write for the university paper or the city paper. Perhaps the editors will even publish one or two that I can link.

The unsung villan

Discomfort in the crib, little whine will do,
Imbibe in the bottle, cry an hour, maybe two,
Until I'm satisfied that I'm the center of existence,
Cute, but in need of repentance,
Though I'd be praised if I put together a sentence,
Other than the one I owe,
See, If I had the strength of a man, you'd be dead when I lose control
When I spill my bowl,
Without the finger strength to grab the knife and slit a throat.
You're shocked because that's so dark,
But more so are men's hearts,
And mine was just waiting to grow.

In the lunch room, sitting in my class row,
Setting down my tray establishing room for my elbows,
Stomach impatient, in the middle of throes,
Telling me get going and have no respect for the slow,
Skip the prayer, let go, and take the last roll,
Remark back to the other kid who wanted it also,
But I'm not giving this, fair is my foe,
And I took and kept that roll with the strength of my soul
This is the nature in all men preparing to grow.

Drop the task, let the moment relax,
Quit the activity, just let it pass.
Too much stress, unblessed
Because you're willing,
Striving to find life
In that which is only killing.
Billing happiness by the minute,
Never letting go until you won't let go,
And when you won't let go, you've given up all control.
This was your life, without Christ as lead role.