>
Monday, January 30, 2006
happy new year
random!
-the weekend was good, but still battling feelings of anxiety and inadequacy as usual whenever Chinese New Year rolls around. le sigh. sometimes i feel like giving up and telling people i'm just japanese, and not bothering with the "half and half" explanation. my brother tells people he's japanese and indonesian (liar!), if pressed. although he claims people assume he's korean.
-after seeing bits of the movie and a couple episodes of the TV show spinoff of Lilo & Stitch, i think, though i'm definitely not as cute, that i'm a lot like Lilo.
-i really missed being at church.
-i still feel like i don't have enough time to do everything.
-the weather is unseasonably warm and it's making me happy but a leeeeetle paranoid.
-i started taking a class in copyediting at Rye-High, and i'm not sure if i have the characteristics of a future copyeditor. although, my instructor GUARANTEES extreme anal retentiveness WILL become part of my skill set by the end of the semester. oy! i should be scared, right?
-i ended up voting NDP, though was tempted to vote either liberal or green for a few moments. yes, i'm disappointed that the conservatives are in power, but i think a minority tory government will actually be a good thing for the country.
-sometimes, i hate the person i've become.
-i volunteered with the PJs for Preemies programme (through Sick Kids) a few Sundays ago, and it's a really wonderful project. if you like sewing or just helping out new mothers and their children, this could be a great volunteer opportunity. Basically people are sent kits to make preemie-sized blankets and sleepers (detailed instructions provided). The patterns are super simple and the fabric that you are given is SO adorable! preemie-sized garments are needed desperately in hospitals; wards often improvise and create make-shift items for their preemies which is unfortunate. at birth, preemies often weigh only one or two pounds, so regular-sized baby clothing will not fit properly. for more info check out the Jan issue of Canadian Living or contact Linda LoRe at pjsforpreemies@yahoo.ca, or click here for a write-up about the programme.
-work is still fun. i was actually engrossed in two books. yeah, i KNOW!
-went to Lee a few saturdays ago. the food was okay, though i was thoroughly surprised when i had a bite of the gyoza swimming in a pool of melted cheese and tomato sauce-unnecessary adventure in fusion? i think so! we managed to snag a manager-led tour of the kitchens of both Lee AND Susur. it was pretty cool, especially since i was reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain at the time, and i had seen the episode of "Opening Soon" that documented the opening of Lee. After saying our thanks the manager leaned in and in a stage whisper, suggested we thank "him" as well. Confused, I stared back blankly, wondering what other synonym for "thank you" would placate him. i then noticed the abrupt swivels of heads and followed everyone's gaze to the front of the restaurant where the Man himself, Mr Susur Lee, was sitting at a table, chatting with some other patrons.
"Hi, gals! I'm Susur Lee! Call me Sus!"
Okay, so maybe he didn't say that. But I immediately went into spastic-fan mode (re: Zadie Smith, Elizabeth Flock and Amos Lee encounters) when i spotted him. To combat impending spazzing, I quickly jumped to the back of the pack, which i thought would quell the process of hyperventilation. i think it was a success because i don't think he was thrown off by my goggling. he's a lot taller than i expected. and i think he has dimples? Hmm. Oh, yeah, he's battling Bobby "I'm-all-about-the-chipotle" Flay on Iron Chef America, air date sometime in March. hahahahah! super amused because that show is so ri.dic.u.lous. hahah =)
random!
-the weekend was good, but still battling feelings of anxiety and inadequacy as usual whenever Chinese New Year rolls around. le sigh. sometimes i feel like giving up and telling people i'm just japanese, and not bothering with the "half and half" explanation. my brother tells people he's japanese and indonesian (liar!), if pressed. although he claims people assume he's korean.
-after seeing bits of the movie and a couple episodes of the TV show spinoff of Lilo & Stitch, i think, though i'm definitely not as cute, that i'm a lot like Lilo.
-i really missed being at church.
-i still feel like i don't have enough time to do everything.
-the weather is unseasonably warm and it's making me happy but a leeeeetle paranoid.
-i started taking a class in copyediting at Rye-High, and i'm not sure if i have the characteristics of a future copyeditor. although, my instructor GUARANTEES extreme anal retentiveness WILL become part of my skill set by the end of the semester. oy! i should be scared, right?
-i ended up voting NDP, though was tempted to vote either liberal or green for a few moments. yes, i'm disappointed that the conservatives are in power, but i think a minority tory government will actually be a good thing for the country.
-sometimes, i hate the person i've become.
-i volunteered with the PJs for Preemies programme (through Sick Kids) a few Sundays ago, and it's a really wonderful project. if you like sewing or just helping out new mothers and their children, this could be a great volunteer opportunity. Basically people are sent kits to make preemie-sized blankets and sleepers (detailed instructions provided). The patterns are super simple and the fabric that you are given is SO adorable! preemie-sized garments are needed desperately in hospitals; wards often improvise and create make-shift items for their preemies which is unfortunate. at birth, preemies often weigh only one or two pounds, so regular-sized baby clothing will not fit properly. for more info check out the Jan issue of Canadian Living or contact Linda LoRe at pjsforpreemies@yahoo.ca, or click here for a write-up about the programme.
-work is still fun. i was actually engrossed in two books. yeah, i KNOW!
-went to Lee a few saturdays ago. the food was okay, though i was thoroughly surprised when i had a bite of the gyoza swimming in a pool of melted cheese and tomato sauce-unnecessary adventure in fusion? i think so! we managed to snag a manager-led tour of the kitchens of both Lee AND Susur. it was pretty cool, especially since i was reading Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain at the time, and i had seen the episode of "Opening Soon" that documented the opening of Lee. After saying our thanks the manager leaned in and in a stage whisper, suggested we thank "him" as well. Confused, I stared back blankly, wondering what other synonym for "thank you" would placate him. i then noticed the abrupt swivels of heads and followed everyone's gaze to the front of the restaurant where the Man himself, Mr Susur Lee, was sitting at a table, chatting with some other patrons.
"Hi, gals! I'm Susur Lee! Call me Sus!"
Okay, so maybe he didn't say that. But I immediately went into spastic-fan mode (re: Zadie Smith, Elizabeth Flock and Amos Lee encounters) when i spotted him. To combat impending spazzing, I quickly jumped to the back of the pack, which i thought would quell the process of hyperventilation. i think it was a success because i don't think he was thrown off by my goggling. he's a lot taller than i expected. and i think he has dimples? Hmm. Oh, yeah, he's battling Bobby "I'm-all-about-the-chipotle" Flay on Iron Chef America, air date sometime in March. hahahahah! super amused because that show is so ri.dic.u.lous. hahah =)
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
3 important issues
health care:
Conservatives
Reforms: Prevent the drift toward two-tier health care. Establish maximum acceptable wait times for essential medical services. Press for faster processing of drug approvals. Support health research and innovation. Ban embryonic research for at least three years and encourage granting agencies to focus on more promising adult (post-natal) stem cell research.
Principles: Add a sixth principle to the Canada Health Act calling for stable and transparent federal funding.
Funding: Provide stable and transparent federal funding that grows when needed.
Liberals
Reforms: Focus on reducing wait times for medical procedures. Continue to follow the 10-year plan agreed to by first ministers in the fall of 2004. The deal includes targets for reducing wait times and plans to study national pharmacare and home care programs. Set aside $75 million to help patients and a family member pay for travel and accommodation if they need to go to another province for health care. Contribute to international efforts to combat infectious diseases. Establish a Canadian Mental Health Commission to better address mental health and illness issues.
Principles: Favour public delivery and financing of health-care services as opposed to private delivery. Funding must be directed only to the public health-care system.
Funding: Attach conditions to funding to ensure any future investment goes only to the public health-care system. Spend $100 million over five years to increase number of family doctors by 1,000. Spend $300 million over five years for cancer research and control.
NDP
Reforms: Hire more doctors and nurses and invest in more training, especially for the latter. Refuse money to doctors also working outside the public health-care system. Expand the coverage of home care for those caring for elderly or disabled relatives and implement the home-care transfer recommended in the Romanow Report and a national pharmacare program to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Shorten the length of patent protection for the makers of expensive new drugs. Ban unhealthy trans fatty acids from prepared and fast foods.
Principles: Stop further privatization. Introduce new rules in legislation and agreements on federal transfers to provinces for health care. Amend the Canada Health Act to eliminate for-profit private delivery of diagnostic services, such as MRIs, and outlaw giving medicare money to private hospitals, such as the ones that have started to take hold in Alberta.
Funding: Spend $200 million a year on training for nurses and health-care providers in health science education programs. Demand greater accountability from provinces and withhold federal health transfers to provinces that don't comply with the Canada Health Act. Increase support for provincial and territorial health initiatives
environment:
Conservatives
Energy: Develop a national alternative energy strategy to increase the use of renewable energy and support innovative research and development.
Protection: Introduce a tax credit for transit passes. Provide long-term funding to clean up federal contaminated sites and offer incentives to encourage the private sector to clean up contaminated sites. Make guidelines mandatory for ships on managing ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species.
Kyoto Protocol: Review all environment and energy initiatives, including Kyoto. The party has described the accord as fatally flawed.
Liberals
Energy: Offer financial incentives to encourage renewable energy power producers, individuals and industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Allow renewable energy producers to receive emission reduction credits and sell these to the Climate Fund Agency or other industries.
Protection: Implement a $1 billion, 10-year plan to clean up the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin and other threatened waterways. Develop domestic "offset credits" for farmers who adopt low- or zero-till practices. Created the Green Municipal Fund for municipalities to build environmentally sustainable infrastructure. Develop more stringent guidelines on water quality. Continue public awareness campaign to stop idling.
Kyoto Protocol: Find ways to accelerate progress to Kyoto targets. Invest $10 billion in the next seven years to achieve those targets. Encourage partnership with businesses and citizens to encourage emissions reduction. Give tax incentives for efficient and renewable energy production.
NDP
Energy: Set a target of 10,000 megawatts of wind power by 2010, with base financial support of 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Install 100,000 solar rooftops, with a federal grant of 30 per cent of the cost and loans for the remainder. Provide financial incentives for other renewable energy sources and to local co-operative and renewable power production. Phase out subsidies for non-renewable energy production and consumption and provide no new federal funding for nuclear power.
Protection: Create "green" jobs through a program that would fix municipal water and sewage systems and prevent them from polluting their environments. Establish national standards for air and drinking water and ban bulk water exports. Make polluters pay for the cost of cleaning up toxic sites. Overhaul the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to replace focus on voluntary pollution prevention with mandatory anti-pollution standards. Encourage farming and fishing practices that are environmentally friendly. Require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms. Complete the system of national parks, protect ancient forests, improve endangered species protection, set up a national conservation fund and deal with Great Lakes protection issues.
Kyoto Protocol: Meet Kyoto Protocol targets by 2010 by designing laws and regulations that lead to lower industry and community emissions, and creating a Climate Change Exchange to auction off emission credits and make it good business for corporations to pollute less. Use proceeds from the auction to replace coal power plants with hydro plants. Create new environmental jobs for workers displaced as Kyoto Protocol targets are met, and bring in a Clean Air Fund to create environmental industry jobs in local communities. Retrofit more buildings to consume less energy, with projects funded by a revolving loan fund with funds coming from and profits going to the Canada Pension Plan. Put every federal policy through a "greenscreen" to judge its environmental soundness or risk. Push for more environmentally friendly ways of transporting people and goods.
foreign affairs:
Conservatives
Human Rights: No stated policy found.
Developing Nations: Aid should be delivered, where possible, through Canadian agencies. Give the Canadian International Development Agency authority to monitor all development assistance money. Introduce legislation that would provide legal framework for development assistance money.
Trade: Vigorously pursue the reduction of international trade barriers and tariffs. Find new markets for Canadian through trade ties with emerging markets.
Liberals
Human Rights: Support the idea for a United Nations Human Rights Council. Establish a Global Centre for Pluralism in Canada, in partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation.
Developing Nations: Grant debt forgiveness to progressive developing nations. Increase international assistance by $3.4 billion with the intention of doubling assistance by 2010-2011 from its 2001-2002 level. Develop the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force to build human security and assist peacekeeping in Africa.
Trade: Support services to business that enhance the abilities of Canadian companies to compete and prosper in the global economy.
NDP
Human Rights: Push for binding rules in trade agreements to protect human rights, labour standards, cultural diversity and the environment.
Developing Nations: Canada must honour its commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of GDP to foreign aid. Forgive debts owed by developing nations.
Trade: Push for binding rules in trade agreements to protect human rights, labour standards, cultural diversity and the environment. Trade agreements should be approved by parliament.
http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/leadersparties/issues.html
how are you voting?
health care:
Conservatives
Reforms: Prevent the drift toward two-tier health care. Establish maximum acceptable wait times for essential medical services. Press for faster processing of drug approvals. Support health research and innovation. Ban embryonic research for at least three years and encourage granting agencies to focus on more promising adult (post-natal) stem cell research.
Principles: Add a sixth principle to the Canada Health Act calling for stable and transparent federal funding.
Funding: Provide stable and transparent federal funding that grows when needed.
Liberals
Reforms: Focus on reducing wait times for medical procedures. Continue to follow the 10-year plan agreed to by first ministers in the fall of 2004. The deal includes targets for reducing wait times and plans to study national pharmacare and home care programs. Set aside $75 million to help patients and a family member pay for travel and accommodation if they need to go to another province for health care. Contribute to international efforts to combat infectious diseases. Establish a Canadian Mental Health Commission to better address mental health and illness issues.
Principles: Favour public delivery and financing of health-care services as opposed to private delivery. Funding must be directed only to the public health-care system.
Funding: Attach conditions to funding to ensure any future investment goes only to the public health-care system. Spend $100 million over five years to increase number of family doctors by 1,000. Spend $300 million over five years for cancer research and control.
NDP
Reforms: Hire more doctors and nurses and invest in more training, especially for the latter. Refuse money to doctors also working outside the public health-care system. Expand the coverage of home care for those caring for elderly or disabled relatives and implement the home-care transfer recommended in the Romanow Report and a national pharmacare program to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Shorten the length of patent protection for the makers of expensive new drugs. Ban unhealthy trans fatty acids from prepared and fast foods.
Principles: Stop further privatization. Introduce new rules in legislation and agreements on federal transfers to provinces for health care. Amend the Canada Health Act to eliminate for-profit private delivery of diagnostic services, such as MRIs, and outlaw giving medicare money to private hospitals, such as the ones that have started to take hold in Alberta.
Funding: Spend $200 million a year on training for nurses and health-care providers in health science education programs. Demand greater accountability from provinces and withhold federal health transfers to provinces that don't comply with the Canada Health Act. Increase support for provincial and territorial health initiatives
environment:
Conservatives
Energy: Develop a national alternative energy strategy to increase the use of renewable energy and support innovative research and development.
Protection: Introduce a tax credit for transit passes. Provide long-term funding to clean up federal contaminated sites and offer incentives to encourage the private sector to clean up contaminated sites. Make guidelines mandatory for ships on managing ballast water to prevent the introduction of invasive species.
Kyoto Protocol: Review all environment and energy initiatives, including Kyoto. The party has described the accord as fatally flawed.
Liberals
Energy: Offer financial incentives to encourage renewable energy power producers, individuals and industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Allow renewable energy producers to receive emission reduction credits and sell these to the Climate Fund Agency or other industries.
Protection: Implement a $1 billion, 10-year plan to clean up the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin and other threatened waterways. Develop domestic "offset credits" for farmers who adopt low- or zero-till practices. Created the Green Municipal Fund for municipalities to build environmentally sustainable infrastructure. Develop more stringent guidelines on water quality. Continue public awareness campaign to stop idling.
Kyoto Protocol: Find ways to accelerate progress to Kyoto targets. Invest $10 billion in the next seven years to achieve those targets. Encourage partnership with businesses and citizens to encourage emissions reduction. Give tax incentives for efficient and renewable energy production.
NDP
Energy: Set a target of 10,000 megawatts of wind power by 2010, with base financial support of 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour. Install 100,000 solar rooftops, with a federal grant of 30 per cent of the cost and loans for the remainder. Provide financial incentives for other renewable energy sources and to local co-operative and renewable power production. Phase out subsidies for non-renewable energy production and consumption and provide no new federal funding for nuclear power.
Protection: Create "green" jobs through a program that would fix municipal water and sewage systems and prevent them from polluting their environments. Establish national standards for air and drinking water and ban bulk water exports. Make polluters pay for the cost of cleaning up toxic sites. Overhaul the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to replace focus on voluntary pollution prevention with mandatory anti-pollution standards. Encourage farming and fishing practices that are environmentally friendly. Require mandatory labeling of genetically modified organisms. Complete the system of national parks, protect ancient forests, improve endangered species protection, set up a national conservation fund and deal with Great Lakes protection issues.
Kyoto Protocol: Meet Kyoto Protocol targets by 2010 by designing laws and regulations that lead to lower industry and community emissions, and creating a Climate Change Exchange to auction off emission credits and make it good business for corporations to pollute less. Use proceeds from the auction to replace coal power plants with hydro plants. Create new environmental jobs for workers displaced as Kyoto Protocol targets are met, and bring in a Clean Air Fund to create environmental industry jobs in local communities. Retrofit more buildings to consume less energy, with projects funded by a revolving loan fund with funds coming from and profits going to the Canada Pension Plan. Put every federal policy through a "greenscreen" to judge its environmental soundness or risk. Push for more environmentally friendly ways of transporting people and goods.
foreign affairs:
Conservatives
Human Rights: No stated policy found.
Developing Nations: Aid should be delivered, where possible, through Canadian agencies. Give the Canadian International Development Agency authority to monitor all development assistance money. Introduce legislation that would provide legal framework for development assistance money.
Trade: Vigorously pursue the reduction of international trade barriers and tariffs. Find new markets for Canadian through trade ties with emerging markets.
Liberals
Human Rights: Support the idea for a United Nations Human Rights Council. Establish a Global Centre for Pluralism in Canada, in partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation.
Developing Nations: Grant debt forgiveness to progressive developing nations. Increase international assistance by $3.4 billion with the intention of doubling assistance by 2010-2011 from its 2001-2002 level. Develop the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force to build human security and assist peacekeeping in Africa.
Trade: Support services to business that enhance the abilities of Canadian companies to compete and prosper in the global economy.
NDP
Human Rights: Push for binding rules in trade agreements to protect human rights, labour standards, cultural diversity and the environment.
Developing Nations: Canada must honour its commitment to devote 0.7 per cent of GDP to foreign aid. Forgive debts owed by developing nations.
Trade: Push for binding rules in trade agreements to protect human rights, labour standards, cultural diversity and the environment. Trade agreements should be approved by parliament.
http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/leadersparties/issues.html
how are you voting?
Friday, January 13, 2006
"logistics of love" || jonathan lumbard
flipped open my cell phone to call her, and then I closed it again, my heart was beating so fast. I decided to write down the thoughts and questions I had for her. (Please tell me that I am not the only one who writes out what I am going to say before I say it.) I simply wanted to know—after close to three months of talking on the phone—did she think this relationship was going to go anywhere beyond "just friends?" Should I move on or keep pursuing her?
By this point I cared about her a lot, maybe I started to fall in love with her; all I know is that when she told me that I needed to move on, I felt the sting. It became another story I would tell about how I fell in love with a young lady who didn’t fall in love with me.
The more I journey to understand love I keep running into God, and the more I journey to understand God I keep running into love. Love makes sense in a lot ways, as far as how to love and what love looks like, but I always take a step further where love boggles my mind. It is the place where love makes no sense at all—the place where facts and scripture can’t explain it anymore than they can explain God.
God makes sense in a lot of the factual, scientific proofs that he did what he said he did, and he is who he says he is. However, I always come to a place just beyond the facts where He is unexplainable, where my vocabulary ends, and I am forever searching for words to describe the indescribable.
I guess we are all on this journey to figure out love, or maybe the feelings of love. As far as the facts and actions of love and what it is supposed to look like, it’s spelled out pretty clear in the Bible. I think the confusing part for most, if not all, of us is what it is supposed to feel like.
I tell people all the time in counseling and discipleship moments that love is a choice and an action; if we told them that love was a feeling or only a feeling, imagine the warped views on love that would arise and the lack of commitment that would come of it.
Over 50% of marriages in the church end in divorce. Did they all just not find “the one?" You know, the person that was planned for them since before the creation of the world? Or did they not understand love? Most of us focus our attention on finding the right one instead of becoming the right one. The fact is that God cares more about who I am and who I become than who I end up with.
I think the feelings of love are vital, and need to be there, but what if you wake up next to your spouse someday and you don't feel “in love” that day? The firework moments happen, but that’s not what gets you through the seemingly unbearable situations.
What about when a child dies, or one or both of you loses a job?When that happens, we need the “for better or worse, till death do us part, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love never fails type of love” to be what we hold on to.
Maybe where we go wrong with love and romance is trying to figure it out. We try to find answers and in doing so we boil love down to a formula or a mathematical equation. There just comes a point where logic ends and risk takes over, where it doesn’t have to make sense because it probably never will.
Remember the times where you have experienced God? You know, the times where you really encountered Him? You try to explain it to someone and the words seem almost elementary. Nothing can change the fact that you experienced what you experienced. Experience reinforces the facts we believe in.
That’s why I believe so strongly that people need to encounter God, because if they just believe the convincing arguments that we give them they will fall flat on their face when life happens and they realize for the first time that they have been holding on to facts about God instead of the experience of a relationship with Him. It is also why experiencing love is supposed to reinforce the foundational truths of love.
At the same time, most people experience the emotions of love, but have no frame work for what love really is. Does it seem like we’re going in circles yet? Do you get the idea that there is no formula to this whole thing?
We can’t just do away with the experiential part of love. We need both the understandable and the unexplainable. I never want to just be convincing when it comes to love; I also want the part of love that doesn’t make any sense. I want the adventure of not knowing what’s around the corner, but the security of knowing I’ll hold her hand, and we’ll get there together. Encountering love may be as scary and exciting as encountering God.
I think I still have more questions than answers about love, but I think that’s ok; after all, the Bible says that “God is love,” and I haven’t quite figured Him out yet. So, do I have the corner market on love? Not even close. As I closed my cell phone again and as I crumbled the paper with my thoughts and questions on it, I realized my story is still being written.
http://relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=7069
flipped open my cell phone to call her, and then I closed it again, my heart was beating so fast. I decided to write down the thoughts and questions I had for her. (Please tell me that I am not the only one who writes out what I am going to say before I say it.) I simply wanted to know—after close to three months of talking on the phone—did she think this relationship was going to go anywhere beyond "just friends?" Should I move on or keep pursuing her?
By this point I cared about her a lot, maybe I started to fall in love with her; all I know is that when she told me that I needed to move on, I felt the sting. It became another story I would tell about how I fell in love with a young lady who didn’t fall in love with me.
The more I journey to understand love I keep running into God, and the more I journey to understand God I keep running into love. Love makes sense in a lot ways, as far as how to love and what love looks like, but I always take a step further where love boggles my mind. It is the place where love makes no sense at all—the place where facts and scripture can’t explain it anymore than they can explain God.
God makes sense in a lot of the factual, scientific proofs that he did what he said he did, and he is who he says he is. However, I always come to a place just beyond the facts where He is unexplainable, where my vocabulary ends, and I am forever searching for words to describe the indescribable.
I guess we are all on this journey to figure out love, or maybe the feelings of love. As far as the facts and actions of love and what it is supposed to look like, it’s spelled out pretty clear in the Bible. I think the confusing part for most, if not all, of us is what it is supposed to feel like.
I tell people all the time in counseling and discipleship moments that love is a choice and an action; if we told them that love was a feeling or only a feeling, imagine the warped views on love that would arise and the lack of commitment that would come of it.
Over 50% of marriages in the church end in divorce. Did they all just not find “the one?" You know, the person that was planned for them since before the creation of the world? Or did they not understand love? Most of us focus our attention on finding the right one instead of becoming the right one. The fact is that God cares more about who I am and who I become than who I end up with.
I think the feelings of love are vital, and need to be there, but what if you wake up next to your spouse someday and you don't feel “in love” that day? The firework moments happen, but that’s not what gets you through the seemingly unbearable situations.
What about when a child dies, or one or both of you loses a job?When that happens, we need the “for better or worse, till death do us part, 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love never fails type of love” to be what we hold on to.
Maybe where we go wrong with love and romance is trying to figure it out. We try to find answers and in doing so we boil love down to a formula or a mathematical equation. There just comes a point where logic ends and risk takes over, where it doesn’t have to make sense because it probably never will.
Remember the times where you have experienced God? You know, the times where you really encountered Him? You try to explain it to someone and the words seem almost elementary. Nothing can change the fact that you experienced what you experienced. Experience reinforces the facts we believe in.
That’s why I believe so strongly that people need to encounter God, because if they just believe the convincing arguments that we give them they will fall flat on their face when life happens and they realize for the first time that they have been holding on to facts about God instead of the experience of a relationship with Him. It is also why experiencing love is supposed to reinforce the foundational truths of love.
At the same time, most people experience the emotions of love, but have no frame work for what love really is. Does it seem like we’re going in circles yet? Do you get the idea that there is no formula to this whole thing?
We can’t just do away with the experiential part of love. We need both the understandable and the unexplainable. I never want to just be convincing when it comes to love; I also want the part of love that doesn’t make any sense. I want the adventure of not knowing what’s around the corner, but the security of knowing I’ll hold her hand, and we’ll get there together. Encountering love may be as scary and exciting as encountering God.
I think I still have more questions than answers about love, but I think that’s ok; after all, the Bible says that “God is love,” and I haven’t quite figured Him out yet. So, do I have the corner market on love? Not even close. As I closed my cell phone again and as I crumbled the paper with my thoughts and questions on it, I realized my story is still being written.
http://relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=7069
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
fresh
happy (belated) new year. i was sitting in starbucks with laura and isobela on jan 2nd and all of a sudden, as the night was drawing to a close, i became so excited about 2006. it almost felt like a small geyser of excitement erupted inside of my chest. a whole new year stretched out in front me, ripe with possibility. what a gift.
this year is going to be different. for one, i'm going back to school (I'm a Ram!) and I'll actually have vacation time this year =) i'm also going to be on budget lockdown (starting...next month =P) and I'll hopefully be committed to a regular Caring Canine schedule (with my dearest, Remy). Time management will still be a struggle I think, but hopefully everything will work out.
Resolutions for 06 are:
-schedule time better
-be consistent with devo reading
-teach Remy a new trick
-learn how to cook better
-take more walks
-manage finances better
-be able to spell all Cranium gnillepses cards CORRECTLY
phew =)
i had a stupendous 2005-there's so much i got to experience, that it'd be impossible to describe them all. but highlights include:
-participation in ultimate/10k/5k/running room/softball/volleyball
-trips to atlanta and montreal
-Go time
-reestablishing relationships and having my ego humbled and broken as a result
-ending & starting jobs
-oh, the joys of eating!
-rediscovering board games
-appreciating how great toronto is
-HfH builds
happy 2006 and i hope it's better than the last.
happy (belated) new year. i was sitting in starbucks with laura and isobela on jan 2nd and all of a sudden, as the night was drawing to a close, i became so excited about 2006. it almost felt like a small geyser of excitement erupted inside of my chest. a whole new year stretched out in front me, ripe with possibility. what a gift.
this year is going to be different. for one, i'm going back to school (I'm a Ram!) and I'll actually have vacation time this year =) i'm also going to be on budget lockdown (starting...next month =P) and I'll hopefully be committed to a regular Caring Canine schedule (with my dearest, Remy). Time management will still be a struggle I think, but hopefully everything will work out.
Resolutions for 06 are:
-schedule time better
-be consistent with devo reading
-teach Remy a new trick
-learn how to cook better
-take more walks
-manage finances better
-be able to spell all Cranium gnillepses cards CORRECTLY
phew =)
i had a stupendous 2005-there's so much i got to experience, that it'd be impossible to describe them all. but highlights include:
-participation in ultimate/10k/5k/running room/softball/volleyball
-trips to atlanta and montreal
-Go time
-reestablishing relationships and having my ego humbled and broken as a result
-ending & starting jobs
-oh, the joys of eating!
-rediscovering board games
-appreciating how great toronto is
-HfH builds
happy 2006 and i hope it's better than the last.
for aj
the postal service || brand new colony
I'll be the grapes fermented,
Bottled and served with the table set in my finest suit
Like a perfect gentlemen
I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the ancient brick
Where you will sit and contemplate your day
I'll be the waterwings that save you if you start drowning
In an open tab when your judgement's on the brink
I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
Albums back as your lying there drifting off to sleep...
I'll be the platform shoes and undo what heredity's done to you...
You won't have to strain to look into my eyes
I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped straight to the throat
With the collar up so you won't catch a cold
I want to take you far from the cynics in this town
And kiss you on the mouth
We'll cut out bodies free from the tethers of this scene,
Start a brand new colony
Where everything will change,
We'll give ourselves new names (identities erased)
The sun will hear the grounds
Under our bare feet in this brand new colony
Everything will change, oOo oOo...
the postal service || brand new colony
I'll be the grapes fermented,
Bottled and served with the table set in my finest suit
Like a perfect gentlemen
I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the ancient brick
Where you will sit and contemplate your day
I'll be the waterwings that save you if you start drowning
In an open tab when your judgement's on the brink
I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite
Albums back as your lying there drifting off to sleep...
I'll be the platform shoes and undo what heredity's done to you...
You won't have to strain to look into my eyes
I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped straight to the throat
With the collar up so you won't catch a cold
I want to take you far from the cynics in this town
And kiss you on the mouth
We'll cut out bodies free from the tethers of this scene,
Start a brand new colony
Where everything will change,
We'll give ourselves new names (identities erased)
The sun will hear the grounds
Under our bare feet in this brand new colony
Everything will change, oOo oOo...
