And so a Monday begins (once again) and the week begins (yet again) and though the work will be hectic and I will surely get stressed at certain points…that is no matter. The moonless sky slowly lightens and the promise of deepest night’s deepest wish is sublimely fulfilled by the glory of the dawn. And so does my heart burn as I ponder the beauty of the Lord and all His promises to me. I am unworthy yet I am loved. May I meditate on the truth and love of God this day. A song is in my heart. Remember – always – that no matter the darkness that surrounds, the light is greater still.
The Dying Light of 6 O’Clock
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD!
Remember this. Forever and always.
Praise the Lord, oh my soul.
Black Lab
Hello friends!! I have been having a nice reading time here on the couch in my room…sipping tea and reading some Owen. Finished the current chapter and realised I have only one chapter to go – 10 pages more and Owens Vol. III shall be conquered! Milestone, y’all.
Anyways upon finishing that chapter, I also realised that I am quite far behind in logging my reading….I have a pile of books that I’ve read recently that I have not chronicled here. Tragedy. I shan’t take too long to describe my thoughts, but I do want the record to show that I have read the following…
18. The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis. Still making my way through Narnia. And Silver Chair is simply marvelous. It never used to be my favourite(and it still might not be), but each time I read it, I like it more. The adventures of Jill & Eustace & Puddleglum…and their battle against the serpent. So many classic moments.
19. Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold. Another Bujold omnibus, so I technically could count this as 3(The Warrior’s Apprentice, The Mountains of Mourning & The Vor Game). But no – I shall count it as one. Anyways, after reading about the magnificent Cordelia, I moved on to the next book in the chronology and finally met the infamous Miles Vorkosigan. This book was a delight…although I must confess, need to take a break from Miles for a bit. Just like the characters in this book, can only take so much Miles at one time!!
20. A World Lost by Wendell Berry. I really cannot describe this one. I forget if I’ve talked about Wendell Berry here, but his books are truly some of my favourites. Harkening back to a simpler time. Describing the beauties of the Kentucky countryside…yet also acknowledging the true hurts and loss that reside in each and every person. Few writers touch my emotions as deeply as Berry does. This book was rather short, but no less beautiful for that.
21. Timescape by Gregory Benford. I don’t really know how to describe this one. It was recommended as one of the classic sci-fi novels, it was a delight when reading…as much as I don’t know if I can unhesitatingly recommend this one. It was a fantastic – yet dark and depressing – novel involving characters from both the ’60s and the ’90s…and this book was written in 1980!! Obviously it was fascinating to read about the author’s predictions for the “far future” 1998!! And it was just as interesting reading about his description of academia in the 1963…which was a time the author has lived in(and I have not!), so I feel as if I learned a lot about that time period. Still, the characters themselves sort of depressed me. Despite the fun time-twisting science bits, the characters cynical and immoral nature…was not the most fun to read about. Alas. So will probably not read this one again.
22. Death’s End by Cixin Liu. Another epic sci-fi novel which I shall probably not read again!! This is the third book in a trilogy by Liu…and as much as I admire Liu’s prose and his grand and sweeping tale of life, the universe and…everything(truly, this book fits that phrase better than most), the book’s worldview(er…universe-view?) was quite depressing. Truly – without God, all is dull and all are lost. And this book reflected that truly. I shall write no more about it now, as it’s making me sad thinking about it.
23. Persian Fire by Tom Holland. Finally a book I can recommend!! This book was simply amazing. Robbie recommended it to me…and yup, I need to read more of his recommendations. It’s a historical narrative about the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BC…and if that doesn’t whet your interest, then you’re hopeless. Seriously though – I do love history, so I guess this is right up my alley, but even so…it was incredibly interesting. The author started by giving the history of the Persian Empire(I had no idea of most of it – reading about their conquests was riveting), then gave the history of the Athens & Sparta city-states…then slowly moved the pieces in place for the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars. We obviously don’t know all the details(as the author stated upfront – there is much disagreement on the finer points, especially as the primary sources are all on the Greek side…and even those are limited!)…but what we do know make a wondrous account. As much as the history of the battles and political wranglings is incredibly interesting, one of my main takeaways is that all the people involved in this were…actual people. People who laughed, cried, had great passions and emotions…and most definitely were not as noble and/or savage as some of the popular conceptions. And even the great heroes in these wars…they may have had great moments, great battles, great years…but did that mean their lives were set from then on? Not necessarily. Some of the heroes on the Greek side…ended up eventually getting cast out of their cities and years later going and living with the Persian court. From praise and adulation to ostracism…pride indeed proceeds a fall. Anyway – this book was great. Very much recommended. I can’t wait to read Holland’s next book that is currently sitting on my coffee table…Rubicon. Guess what it’s about.
24. Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Alright. I’m not sure if this book technically counts…since it is…sort of a comic book?? But whatever, I shall count it! And I am partly shamed, as I really don’t read comic books!! But when I was in Denver with Robbie and exploring book stores…I saw this and couldn’t help but pick it up. Mostly because I love Edgar Wright’s movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Neither the book nor the movie are always entirely appropriate…so I can’t whole-heartedly recommend this. The characters and dialogue are quite well written though…I do love some classic high school drama!! Also, I now realise why the movie is so good. Pretty much all of its best lines are ripped wholesale from this book!! There are apparently 6 volumes of Scott Pilgrim’s adventures…not quite sure if I’ll pick up all the rest yet. But I did enjoy this one. (What that says of me, I shall let you decide on your own!!)
Right – so that was far too much of me talking about books. I am very relieved that I’ve finally logged all these books though. I can now go back to my current reads – Owen & my Hungarian novel…which you will have to find out about at a later date….because I have written too many words now and I want to go back to my tea…and pondering life and how much my God has blessed me abundantly in all things. He really, really has blessed me oh so much more than I deserve, y’all.
Peace and love.
A Note of Grace
Good morning, friends!! I only have a bare few minutes to write…really not even that long, though I did want to say a few words. I read (amongst other things) in Luke 19 today and it’s a glorious chapter with so much I could talk about…from Jesus talking about his going away and not returning for a long time, and how we are to use what He has given us in the meantime, not just sit around waiting for Him…and then scarily enough(this is definitely not the Jesus of popular culture) he talks about those people who did not want Him to reign over them. What happens with those people? This is a democracy right, and if they don’t want Jesus, then fair enough, yup? We all get to choose our own destinies!! Not quite. At the end of that parable, the returning King calls for those who did not want Him to rule to be brought to Him and slain in His presence. Well. Alright then. And then more sobering words, with Jesus arriving at Jerusalem and weeping at their soon-coming judgment because they had missed their visitation – rejected their King. But as sad as these words are – we are comforted by the fact that Jesus will come again…and we shall truly say – “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord”. Oh how I long for that day. But since I have no time and I really can’t talk about all these words, just going to mention my favourite verse in this chapter, the very last one. It is talking about how Jesus is preaching daily in the temple and the religious leaders were trying to destroy him, yet they couldn’t. Here I’ll quote verse 19 in its entirety – “…and they could not find anything that they might do, for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.” That is beautiful enough in and of itself – imagine the scene, people just soaking in the words of Jesus, eyes enraptured, hearts afire. But I glanced over at the footnote as I read and noted that those last few words are literally in the Greek, “…for all the people were hanging on to Him, listening.” Do we have that kind of attitude towards Jesus? Do we have such a desire to know Him more that we could be described as “hanging on to Him, listening”? Each and every day – how do we approach our Lord? I pray that this day we all might burn with passion to be closer, closer to Jesus. Read the Word of God and be in awe at the Light of His Truth. Listen, listen, my friends – to our glorious Lord. Do not miss His visitation – for He has truly offered Himself to all those who cry out to Him. What glory. What beauty. What love. Embrace Jesus and what He has done – for us. Hold on to Jesus and listen. He calls to you. Listen. Listen.
Cannon in E
I forgot how epic and beautiful the 1812 Overture is. Listening to Bernstein’s performance of this now…so wonderful. It is absolutely fantastic music to completely wake me up and inspire me for the day. Mm wondrous music, how grateful am I to God for thee. And…on that note, I really should start “work” even though this first hour of work is comfortably at my dining table since I’m going to a meeting at Transocean at 9. So right now enjoying drinking honey-sweetened coffee from my Pascal’s mug as I prepare for another glorious day our God has made. Peace and love, y’all.
All Things New
Happy Tuesday, friends!! A couple words here as I sip on my coffee before my day gets started in earnest. Firstly – after writing my poem last week(entry previous), I really am quite in a writing mood of late…so don’t be surprised if I post more random writings here and there. That is the hope and goal! Secondly…had a fun time yesterday at Bingo Night at Karbach with various friends. Good times, even though it was a Monday which is most assuredly not a normal going out night!! Still, much fun was had, much fish and chips was consumed, Peter won the grand prize(a snazzy cooler!) and many good conversations were had. This must become a thing, I so declare. Thirdly…I wasn’t sure if I was going to write about this or not, but I’ve been reminiscing lately – thinking on the fact that three years ago(way back in 2015!) was the summer of Kat. Not sure if I actually wrote about her here in plain terms…veiled allusions most likely. Nonetheless, was thinking about that summer of conversation and friendship we had(indeed – I just looked it up now – and it was actually July 24th, 2015 that was the day I flew up to Maryland to see her!!)…and pondering on the sun-soaked memories and dazzling wonder of those days…and though obviously nothing came from that, to my sorrow, I yet think on what God has given me and I cannot help but rejoice evermore, ever still. Forever and always, remember the love of the Lord. Remember that we are forgiven – everything. I remember that I am a child of God.
Dawn
Her blonde hair spills messily
down over her face
as her pen flies furiously
across the page,
red ink flowing strong
red ink flowing true
as her thoughts and her dreams
and her heart sings aloud
oh I ponder and I wonder
what now shall I write
for surely my love’s
nothing if not true
in this most star kissed night
so what shall I give you?
and the candle burns tall
over the mantel
and her leather notebook smells
of hopes sparking alive
and the fullness of night
caresses her face.
And cross-legged on the bed,
crumpled quilt beneath her
what formerly gave comfort
now lies strewn in ruins
of red text across the flickering
laptop screen
and her heart weeps aloud
oh I ponder and I wonder
what now shall I write
for the groans of my love
are surely not true
in the horrors of night
so what can I give you?
and the candle whispers
visions of fire and smoke
and her writings portend
nothing but glimmerings
of doubt
and the depths of the night
bring tears to her eyes.
She pushes her hair over her ears
with a sigh of despair
as the red ink slowly spills out
from the pen dangled between her fingers
and I ponder and I wonder
what more can I write
if my love isn’t true
in the remnants this night
so what am I to you?
the candle slowly gutters
not much more light left now
the nighttime is full
of dreams and regrets
but she sees a glimmer of light
seeping between the blinds
and I ponder and I wonder
how can I not write
for the love that is true
and the love that I’ve known
for I’ve known true love
and true love has known me
and I crawl across the bed
and twirl the blinds open
wider.
Tales from 2AM
Chilling at Starbucks. Yup. Not going to write long, but figured may as well since I’m here!! My day has been relatively(slightly) productive thus far…had a deacons meeting at 730 this morning, then I made my way over here where I’ve been working like a madman…trying to get music playlists in order. Yes, very important business. I admit, it is somewhat hilarious how much I enjoy this. Right now, though I’m struggling mightily as I have four different playlists I’m working on nigh simultaneously. A bit over-ambitious that. A dance mix(sourced from Robbie on our trip last weekend), *another* dance mix(more chill/trance really), a musical mix(Les Mis, Wicked, Rent &…Hamilton!?) and then a more “normal” mix that is a mess and I’ve sort of abandoned for the moment. Anyways – the struggle. And then one of the hardest parts is to come up with a properly epic and just-pretentious-enough album title. OH the joys.
Enough of that though! Planning on seeing Peter pretty soon – going to meet for lunch…somewhere? And then going to hang out with Earnie tonight. It shall be fantastic, that I declare. Last night was beautifully quiet…didn’t really get reading done(well – did read a bit of Owen at EQ – less than 80 pages to go!) but I enjoyed watching Rocky II with my dinner. Forgot how awesome that movie is. Stayed up a bit too late. Alas.
Now though…time to roll. And continue my weird music playlist obsession. I just realised I actually have FIVE playlists I’m working on. Forgot my Anberlin/Owl City/Panic! one I’ve just started. Again – yes, I’m a mess.
Peace, y’all. Peace and love.
A staggering And most Achingly perfect Montage produced To most Dazzling effect
Besides, faith itself, as acted on the death of Christ, hath a peculiar efficacy
unto the subduing of sin: for, “beholding” him thereby “as in a glass, we are
changed into the same image,” 2 Cor. iii. 18; and that which we peculiarly
behold, we are peculiarly transformed into the likeness of. And, moreover,
it is the only means whereby we actually derive from Christ the benefits of
our union with Him. From thence we have all grace, or there is no such
thing in the world; and the communication of it unto us is in and by the
actual exercise of faith principally. So it being acted with respect unto
His death, we have grace for the killing of sin, and thereby become
dead with Him,
crucified with Him,
buried with Him,
as in the testimonies before produced.
This is that which we call the application of the death of Christ unto us,
or our application of ourselves to the death of Christ for the
mortification of sin.
-John Owen, Works, Vol III, p 563
Dear Vienna
Hello friends!! It’s been a bit too long since I’ve written a proper update…my apologies! And I can’t even promise that this will be a decent one, seeing as it’s Tuesday morning and I’m sleepy(albeit in possession of peppermint mocha) and eventually need to get started catching up on work. But…we shall see. Anyways! Main purpose of this post is to chronicle this past weekend’s epic adventures…in Colorado! But even better than getting to visit and explore a new state was hanging out with Robbie! I hadn’t seen him since his wedding(yay Natasha!) late last year. And obviously, it being his wedding and all, we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out then either! But this weekend was a wonderful time to actually be with Robbie and also do some pretty awesome things. But right – I should stop rambling and actually describe the vacation a bit. Flew out Saturday morning and landed in Denver…whereupon since I had a few hours to kill before Robbie arrived, I took the train into the city centre and…as one does, I found a sweet book store(Tattered Cover). Because I was a bit exhausted(from long week previous and just waking up early to pack and go to airport…), I decided I needed a triple-shot of espresso…naturally. Drank that and read some of my Wendell Berry book in the book store for an hour or so(speaking of, I really do need to eventually log the last four books I’ve read. Next time). Still had some time before Robbie was set to arrive so I walked around Denver a bit in the scorching heat(96 degrees seriously!?!). Finally – he texted me that he had landed so I walked back to train station to meet him. While waiting, watched a bit of the Russia/Croatia quarterfinal…which is where Robbie found me when he arrived! We greeted each other quickly then decided we needed to find a proper place to watch the game(it had just gone into extra time!). We found a pub nearby, got lunch and then watched the rest of the game(surrounded by many fans of Croatia, evidenced by the yelling!). Croatia did end up victorious on penalties. So the last four of the World Cup is France, Belgium, England & Croatia. Europa invicta! I’m very torn on who to root for…France for Julie’s sake or England for Robbie’s? I really don’t know what I shall do if they meet in finals. Of course with my luck…will probably end up being Belgium v Croatia. Anyways right…watching the World Cup in pub with Robbie…doesn’t get much better than that!! We reminisced about the last time we watched a World Cup game together…in a bar in Boston four years ago!! Guess we shall have to make plans for 2022 as well then…to continue this glorious tradition.
So…this entry is already far too long and I’ve gotten barely a few hours into the trip! I shall have to accelerate and compress. Following the game, me and Robbie made our way to our hotel. We checked in and set out bags down, then explored Denver a bit more! Walked past the capitol building and some park…then discovered the true prize – a sweet used book store! We perused the offerings there for a while, although I held strong and bought no books. I do love used book stores though…just standing in the midst of the stacks…the possibilities are endless and hope is supreme, for one never knows what gem may be sitting on the shelves…
We did eventually tear ourselves away from the books and walked back, through a thunderstorm nonetheless! Dinner was at a delicious ramen place and following…well, we were in a board game mood because Robbie had been talking about this fun game that everyone in his church had been addicted to this past year or so. We looked up board game stores in Denver and made our way to the nearest one, thinking maybe we’d find this game at the store and he would buy it. Well…this “board game store” actually ended up being a place where you play board games! They had a whole wall full of games and then tables strewn throughout so you could play with your friends. I…didn’t even know they had places like this. Well, wonder of wonders, they actually had this epic strategy game Robbie had been talking about! So instead of having to buy it, we were able to sit down and play it right there! The game is called Scythe – and it’s basically a strategy game set in alt-history early 20th century Europe. What does that even mean? Well…you have farms and mines and workers…and you try and complete certain objectives…oh yeah and you also have mechs. Glorious. So I played as Russia and Robbie played as the Norse and even though I had no idea what I was doing, when we called the game half-way through(because it was almost midnight and really it was time to go!) I somehow won?? I still have no idea what I was doing…but playing with Robbie was super fun. Epic strategy gaming – that’s how we holiday.
Got to the hotel super late…but next morning we couldn’t sleep too late as Sunday was our hiking day!! And really I’m running out of time so I shan’t describe the whole day in detail(thank goodness right??), but we drove out west of Denver to…what I think was technically part of Rocky Mountain National Park – or near enough anyway. We had been researching various trails and because we hadn’t exactly had an early start, wouldn’t have time for any of the really challenging ones. But we hiked what is known as “Jim’s Creek Trail” and it was gorgeous. Again…it’s hard to put to words how it felt to just be hiking through the woods and enjoying the beauty of a vigorous hike up hills and over streams and clambering up muddy slopes and through it all being surrounded by the wondrous beauty of God’s creation. Pretty much the whole hike was next to the creek and so we were able to hear the water running and tumbling and singing throughout our walk…and eventually when we decided to eat our prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, we did so upon what I dubbed Picnic Rock, a massive rock that was just perfect for a mid-hike lunch. And so eventually we turned around and hiked back the way we had come…and for some reason, probably due to the clean air and lovely walk, I was more energized than ever as we completed our hike. As we made our way to the exit, Robbie and I had fun singing some of our favourite songs…think we were singing “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” when we broke from the trees at the end! Oh how wonderful it is to have have a dear friend like Robbie.
And…really I must go now. The rest of the trip shall have to go untold…but it involved much more fun adventures, including listening to fun dance music as we drove through the wonderfully mountainous terrain, me introducing Robbie to Torchy’s Tacos…and more walking around Denver and exploring…visiting another bookstore(in which I did succumb to temptation and buy a couple books!) and more of what I have really left out up til now – the best part of this trip was obviously all the many conversations Robbie and I shared…talking about deep things, talking about our lives, talking about the state of the world(global socioeconomics, Canadian & American politics, etc, etc!), talking about the glories of God and what He has been doing in our lives…and then talking about what all guys end up talking about – girls obviously! – Natasha for him and then any “possibilities” for me…as we do eh? So truly I am grateful for the glorious weekend that we shared. It is obviously fun to explore a new city and it is of course beautiful to hike through gorgeous countryside and it is always good and proper to enjoy so much delicious food when you’re on holiday…but the truest and most treasured part of this trip was the many deep talks Robbie and myself had. Even being able to end a night together reading a Psalm. What is better than that? Not much. So if you’ve read all this(*applauds*), thank you, but most of all I hope you get a sense of my gratitude to my Father God for how He has blessed me so. I am deeply loved.
Peace and love, forever and always.
