week in a flash (week 18)

1. Was talking with a friend the other day and she said something that struck me – “it’s hard to stay mad at someone when you are praying for them.”  Pretty cool huh?

2. Days to graduation =54

3. My Lit Crit professor referenced a modern author yesterday and I had no clue who it was and then a few minutes later he referenced Percy Bysse Shelley (a Romantic-Era author) and I knew exactly who that was and it struck me that I know more (and more about) authors that are dead than the living ones…that’s what you get for being an English major.

4. I watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance today…yeah I’m not sure I liked Jimmy Stewart’s role in that movie…I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it.

5. Yes, I know I’m late on my “week” but that’s because I was working on homework, it happens.

6. Read something for my Am Lit class called “Rationalizing Religion,” it really pissed me off, it talked about how these “enlightened” men of the 1700 and 1800s basically deconstructed and dismantled Christianity.  The reason they it did was noble, they did it so that people would have a way to avoid being duped by charlatans claiming to be priests and whatnot by relying on their senses and logic.  But the way they did it just…ticked me off, things like denying the Holy Trinity and claiming that the reason Christ came to the earth was “not to reveal new truths but to ‘republish’ those obscured by evil and error.”  (This “enlightened” man compared Christ to Socrates and edged towards the denial of Christ’s divinity).

7. Reading this also caused me to re-evaluate certain things.  These “enlightened” men were very harsh towards the priesthood and it bothered me.  For a number of years I have ascribed to the belief that the structure of the modern church is flawed, that we give too much power to pastors and priests to sway our beliefs and opinions and outlooks on life and perhaps that is true…but in reading this I’ve begun to question the hardline manifestations that belief has brought out in me…after all isn’t part of what pastors and priests are supposed to do is offer wisdom and help you find answers to questions you have?  I often go to my parents when I have a tough question about, well, pretty much anything.  My parent’s site (Topics of Conversation) is based on the premise of me and my bro (and even my parents) bringing forth questions about beliefs (and sometimes prejudices, social topics, politics, etc.) and figuring out why we think or believe a certain way using Scripture and personal experiences – is that any different from the relationships that exist between some congregations and their pastors?  Plus I’ve been reading a Pastor’s blog for about a year now…and my views have been changing………I don’t know, I’m going to have to think on this one a bit……  (Just in case you are curious about the Pastor’s blog I’ve been reading I’ll link to it and I really hope he doesn’t mind because I’m presently just a lurker on his site).

8. You know you are a freak when you can spell “macchiato” correctly without looking it up…yep I’m talking about myself…  :D

9. Holy Crow!  September is already almost over!

10. I’m tired.

11. Found a spider building a web in my kitchen sink the other day and it made me laugh…I mean I know I don’t like doing dishes but c’mon I do dishes more often than that!  The really funny thing is I had just done the dishes the day before…unbelievable…Lol!

week in a flash (week 4)

1. I watched two awesome movies this week.  One was awesomely good (btw if you ever want to hear Kate Hudson sing, rent Nine, it rocks!) and the other was awesomely bad, I knew it would be that’s why I rented it. :D

2. Have you ever had moments when you felt wise beyond your years and then had moments where you felt extremely immature?

3. A few years back I started doing this thing where I say to myself “I love my life, I love my life, I love my life,” I started doing it because I noticed than as soon as I started focusing on how everything was going wrong it was easy to fall into a depressive, dark way of thinking where I would start saying things to myself like “I hate my life” and other such things that I won’t deign to put in print ’cause they don’t belong in my head.  I don’t say “I love my life, I love my life, I love my life” to try to erase anything that might be going wrong or anything that’s hurtful to me or to convince myself that things will get better; it’s just a way to remind myself that I’ve got a reason to live and that HE’s always with me.  Sooo…I love my life, I love my life, I love my life.

4. My bro may disown me for saying this but the Twilight saga has got some great characters…too bad they are stuck in one of the worst stories ever written.

5. With regards to a week two comment I made about people, I also want to say that people can also be amazingly compassionate and just plain nice.

6. My summer class starts in a few weeks.  I’m a little nervous.

7.Would you hate me if I said that I actually like Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland and absolutely hate the book?

8. Two of the best sounds in my world at the moment – the crack of thunder, just the way it rumbles and rolls across the sky and how everything trembles and shakes when it’s really loud – in my opinion there is nothing more breathtaking, terrifying and beautiful all at the same time, love it!  And the sound Jack (my Jeep) makes when it accelerates, the raw horsepower and the strength is thrilling.  Granted Jack doesn’t corner like it’s in the Indy 500 the way Baby (my Honda) did but I love ‘im anyway.  (Yes I name my cars, get over it :D)

9. Happy Father’s Day mi padre! (and all the other wonderful fathers out there)

10. Even though you are underway right now and probably won’t see this for a few more weeks, Hippo Birdies bro!!