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An Ancient Sufi Poem
Posted by Will on October 16, 2009
I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:
How are you?
I have a thousand brilliant lies
For the question:
What is God?
If you think that the Truth can be known
From words,
If you think that the Sun and the Ocean
Can pass through that tiny opening
Called the mouth,
O someone should start laughing!
Someone should start wildly laughing –
Now!
Poem found here.
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A Mind
Posted by Will on October 15, 2009
"A mind, once stretched by a great idea, never returns to its former limitations." Albert Einstein
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A Morning Prayer by Thomas Merton
Posted by Will on October 15, 2009
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road.
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me.
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
– Thomas Merton
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A Break-up Letter to God
Posted by Will on October 15, 2009
The following quote is from the NPR Song of the Day blog:
Until 2005, David Bazan led the indie-pop band Pedro the Lion, which had spent the previous 10 years making smart, crushingly bleak records with Christian themes. Bazan himself has always sung outspokenly about his faith, but his work is invariably shot through with disappointment and doubt, with an emphasis on the sordid underbelly of human nature. For someone working in Christian music, he’s spent his entire career dwelling on religion’s many gray areas.
Still, it’s something of a surprise that Bazan’s new album (Curse Your Branches) is about the singer’s conversion to agnosticism — in some ways, it plays like a breakup letter to God — which has accompanied his forays into parenthood and sobriety. Many albums document the process of finding God, but not so many reflect on losing God, especially coming from someone whose work has been so outspokenly spiritual in nature.
I would submit that there are very few Christians who have not had attacks of atheism or agnosticism sometime during their lives. Even Mother Theresa admitted as much in letters to her friends, and I know that I have had a few myself (but that is for another post). So I think it is necessary for us to examine our faith closely, and to also be open to listen to what others who do not share our views are thinking or saying. I found his song “Hard to Be,” which can be found at the top of this page, to be thought-provoking and decided to share it with you, my gentle readers. I hope to buy Bazan’s album soon, and when I do, I will post my review of it here for you to read as well.
Posted in Music, faith | Tagged: David Bazan, Hard to Be | 1 Comment »
Saved by Hope, Faith and Love
Posted by Will on October 14, 2009
Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
- Reinhold Niebuhr
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What Lies Within Us
Posted by Will on October 14, 2009
What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Peace, Bernstein and e.e. – Today in History: October 14th
Posted by Will on October 14, 2009
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Three notable persons received the Nobel Peace Prize on this date. They include:
1964 – Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor and civil rights advocate, was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. King once said, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
1986 – Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He once said, “Hope is like peace. It is not a gift from God. It is a gift only we can give one another.”
1991 – Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. And though she said the following about Burma, it is applicable to all nations: “The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity. It is a struggle that encompasses our political, social and economic aspirations.”
On this date in 1990, the composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein died at age 72. To watch the excellent video “Carnegie Hall Opening Night 2008: A Celebration of Leonard Bernstein,” click here.
And on this day in 1894, e. e. cummings, American poet, was born. Below is his poem “hate blows a bubble of despair.”
hate blows a bubble of despair into
hugeness world system universe and bang
-fear buries a tomorrow under woe
and up comes yesterday most green and young
pleasure and pain are merely surfaces
(one itself showing,itself hiding one)
life’s only and true value neither is
love makes the little thickness of the coin
comes here a man would have from madame death
nevertheless now and without winter spring?
she’ll spin that spirit her own fingers with
and give him nothing (if he should not sing)
how much more than enough for both of us
darling. And if i sing you are my voice
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Saint-Saens and Semple McPherson: Today in History – October 9th
Posted by Will on October 9, 2009
Camille Saint-Saens (10/9/1835 – 12/16/1921) was born on this date. One of this French composer’s best known works was his “Symphony No. 3",” which was featured in the movie “Babe.” A portion of this symphony is in the video below.
Aimee Semple McPherson, a Canadian-born American evangelist was born on this day in 1890 (10/9/1890 – 9/27/1944). Controversial then and now, she nevertheless has some good things to say, such as “We are all making a crown for Jesus out of these daily lives of ours, either a crown of golden, divine love, studded with gems of sacrifice and adoration, or a thorny crown, filled with the cruel briars of unbelief, or selfishness, and sin.”
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Today in History – October 8th: Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Posted by Will on October 8, 2009
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On this day in 1970, the Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. Two quotes from Solzhenitsyn are:
“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes… we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions – especially selfish ones.”
“You can only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything he’s no longer in your power-he’s free again.”
Posted in Solzhenitsyn, Akexander, Today in History, quote | Tagged: Alexander Solzhenitsyn, October 8, Today in History | Leave a Comment »
