On Jerusalem

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the LORD surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
Psalm 125:2

Jerusalem | Filmed in Imax 3D from JerusalemGiantScreen on Vimeo.

There is much to say about Jerusalem, and I suppose I will write more later. But I came across this video, and it got my mind turning again.

First, the Old Testament makes much more sense after experiencing the physical geography. The Psalm above was posted on a vista looking south across the Kidron Valley and away from the Temple Mount. As a literature nerd, I have always been mesmerized with themes and word pictures, and Scripture employs both quite well. Memorable speakers and presenters engage the audience with tangible reminders, and the Hebrew authors were no different.

Secondly, I took another moment during the movie to ignore the British-accented narrator and the majestic swelling of the orchestra and looked at the landscape. While there is varied climate and terrain, much of Palestine is barren. It seems (to me) to be a difficult place to make a life. Even miles of unbroken sand dunes stretching into the distance have a particular sort of allure. But dust, intermixed with rocky crags, random valleys, fairly severe changes in altitude, and a Dead Sea do not present an idyllic scene.

This got me thinking: why would God show His face here? Is this the sort of place that is meant to evoke His Kingdom and His Majesty? What is the benefit of proclaiming, "If you seek Me, you must meet Me here"?

And, of course, the ready reply. Why does He choose to show Himself through us? What sort of beauty do we possess? He makes His dwelling in this place to bring the Supernatural to the ordinary. Thank goodness He has a habit of using imperfection.

Lastly, I felt a certain manner of discomfort -- even disconnection -- in Jerusalem. There was plenty of zealousness to go around, and religious relics abound. But very little of it felt familiar...in the seat of Christianity and in the epicenter of Judaism.


It seems to me at times that we as a culture (Western civilization, American Christianity, Protestantism) mythologize religion as a foundation and affirmation for our way of life. It turns out that Al-Aqsa is different than the Western Wall is different than the Holy Sepulchre (and the resident Armenians, Coptics, Franciscans, etc) is different than the Vatican is different than Saddleback Church.

Perhaps this is still my Western perspective at work, but one question that I repeatedly asked myself was: How must I see and approach God differently -- more rightly? Both God (and man) have erected so many guideposts in this place. I cannot change nor discard my upbringing, but it would be arrogant and stubborn of me to ignore the traditions that are tangential with my own. The room in which I was taught Sunday School is much different than the physical world in Palestine.

So, what is the meaning of this Psalm?

The literal protection of a particular people group is absurd given ancient and recent history. It must refer to a broader definition of protection. How does God measure time? Not by the lifespan of my hands, or even the measure of hands on a watch... but by the mountains that surround and hold His City.

Not Intentional, but a good reminder

So this morning, I noticed that Tony Dungy's autobiography was sitting in my bathroom, only partially read. My parents bought it for me as a Christmas present, and while I've heard many people speak highly of it, I haven't gotten around to finishing it.

The book's title is Quiet Strength.

As I think about living life authentically (and everything The Philosophress needs me to be), "quiet strength" probably wouldn't be near the top of the list of things I should focus on.

Just a morning reminder that what works for some won't necessarily work for me.

Hooray for NC

So after returning to California and battling a weeklong case of Timidity, I've had a string of welcome blessings: I've rediscovered an old (but still relevant) book. I had a surprise phone conversation with the Sabellian. And I'm getting a surprise visit this week from someone who's like a brother...and I don't mean like an actual brother, I mean it in the way that black people use it. Which is more meaningful, I think.

Anyway, I began reading the book Wild at Heart for the third time this afternoon (first time was in college, second time was after the ice-cream debacle), and was astounded that it continues to have increasing relevancy. Since the last time I picked it up, The Philosophress and I went hiking in the North Carolina mountains, and the exploration/wilderness metaphors resonate with me so much more now that I have actual life experience to draw upon.

I wrote the following last October after returning from hiking, but never felt it was "complete" or thorough enough to post. However, reading this book again I think will help me to color in some of the spots I've missed. I still can't do the weekend justice, as I think that I'll have to more Adventurous Living in order to do a better job of describing, but at my core I really felt that weekend and experiences were a momentous turning point in my self-discovery.


~~~



What a money weekend. Good times with The Philosophress, and a fantastic time hiking. Gorgeous fall weather too. It's a pretty crazy reminder of just how I need to keep searching and pursuing new things and being in a good place mentally and emotionally, because I'm finding new things to be pretty incredible.

For starters, it was great to be able to travel in comfortable clothes and guitar in hand, rather than an interview suit and the responsibilities of acting professional and put-together. I'm still new at this whole "adventurous" thing, so the great outdoors is still a bit of a pleasant surprise to me. Growing up, it was all about comfort and convenience, so my first true outdoor experience was the Breckenridge ski trip (astute readers will recall that I pretty much sat that one out, as I really had no idea what I was doing). I made a second attempt during Cheap Smokes, and was a bit more engaged, but still wasn't feeling like a "trail veteran" but I think this weekend solidified my view of cabin life and hiking in general -- now that I've become comfortable and accustomed to this outdoor stuff, I think I like it!

Reentry back into the SoCal lifestyle was difficult, as I realize that my adventurous, freewheeling, and creative self that I cultivated in college really doesn't have a place in the hard-driving, nouveau riche, surface atmosphere out here. Folks out here just don't want to hear about how great it is to climb boulders and take pictures of trees (no matter how stunning) because they might scratch their freshly-manicured nails (this goes for both males and females...kidding, sort of).

A Symphony for the Writing Mind

I'm always on the lookout for good writing tips -- when something someone else has written that sparks my inner creativity and offers a glimpse into an entirely new world. Most of the time I come across the standard stuff: "write in active voice, use shorter sentences," etc. But look at this nugget that pulls back the curtain of history and aligns word choice with different historical cultures:

Watch for Latins and Greeks. After the Normans invaded England, Latin words became preferred by the country's royalty, clergy and scholars. Latin words were, and still are, more formal and indirect than their dirt cheap Anglo-Saxon equivalents. On the other hand, Anglo-Saxon, the honest language of peasants, packs a wallop. In Anglo-Saxon, a man who drinks to excess is not bibulous but a drunk, a man who steals is not a perpetrator, but a thief, and a man who is follically-impaired is not glabrous, but bald. Direct language is powerful language. Then comes Greek, the language of science. Science is nice. Science is good. But using complicated scientific words can make copy dense and difficult to understand. Moreover, it can make it sound pretentious. Of course you cannot -- and should not -- drop all words of Latin or Greek derivation from your work. Many times they will be perfect. But first, try to think of a down-home Anglo-Saxon substitute.

What a fantastic pearl of wisdom! It's incredible how many layers are present in that little excerpt. It's fascinating to ponder how word roots and language reflect and encapsulate the stereotypes of different cultures, and how choosing one word over another can evoke the ethos of an entire civilization. Of course, I naturally gravitate towards the Latin school, both in speaking and in writing -- passive voice, soaring sentence structure, elaborate descriptions, and wild tangents. It's as if the sentence and story itself is a work of art to be crafted.

It's also brings into sharp relief why Shakespeare was such a genius: he wrestled the public oratory away from the scientific, religious, and regal pontificators and harnessed the direct, bawdy Anglo-Saxon language of the peasants -- a huge paradigm shift. And you lawyers and doctors out there can thank Shakespeare for turning the vernacular away from Latin and Greek, allowing you to charge a premium for throwing around phrases like "Habeas Corpus" and the "Hippocratic Oath."

Of course, I've learned how to "write for business" in my current job -- short emails no more than a paragraph in length. But rather than feeling sorry for all the magnificent language I'm forced to discard for brevity's sake, I'll just remind myself to write emails with the language and mindset of William Wallace instead of Cicero.


Here's the full article, for those so inclined.

Food for Thought

or maybe even ideas to develop into something more official someday:

#1 - The Philosophress is big on personality types (Myers-Briggs, etc). I think it'd be novel to trace elements of all the personality types through Scripture (life of Christ, New Testament, etc) to examine if I could discover vignettes that would speak/resonate with each personality. The Bible is universal, speaking to all peoples and cultures, no?

#2 - With all of the wildfires and such, folks who live elsewhere have been joking that the entire state will one day go up in flames (or break off from the continent due to an earthquake). My hypothesis is that California has already distanced itself from the rest of the country sociologically/idealogically and doesn't realize it just yet.

That's it...discuss amongst yourselves, or leave a comment. I thought up these ideas first, so I don't want to see any similar nonsense published by one of the 6 people who read this blog...

Aye, Cap'n! We're Listing!

So I pop on to write something on the ol' blog, and there's apparently a blog on To-Do Lists. I know The Philosophress has a soft spot in her heart for lists (we have a book of them somewhere), but now there's a whole blog!

I took a couple minutes scanning and came across this one. Some of that sounds too ambitious to me, but there were a few that resonated with me. Maybe one of these days life will settle down enough that I'll be able to take some time, dream some dreams, and put one foot in front of the other...

On My Reading List

So I came back to California with two books, Please Understand Me II, about personality types, and What Should I Do With My Life?, an series of interviews with various people struggling to find fulfillment despite life's distractions. Two good books for me to have around at this point in time.

Today was a horrific day at work (emotionally), and tomorrow I have a 7am meeting where (hopefully) I'll be offered some contract work to design & layout the annual report for my old grade school. Then there's the 8:30am meeting at work where the bank president gets on a conference call to explain why he agreed to let Merrill Lynch buy the bank last month, now that we've seen their CEO forced into retirement and their stock has lost half its value. Let's hope I can get some rest and not oversleep my alarm by 3 hours like I did this morning.

Seventy Percent

I've just been taking random tidbits from different places and adopting them as my own over the last several months, so I'll share another one here. I found this article a while back, and it's really given me pause for thought. That either means I'm finding really good articles, or I'm a sucker for anyone distributing free advice.

(and I pause now as you read...)

I've been handicapped figuratively scared motionless for many, many months now, and I'm trying to adopt the 70% mentality as a way of kicking my butt into gear and making progress. I'm trying to remember that at 70%, most people won't really care about that last 30% and/or it's not worth the effort. I've been putting this into practice when applying for jobs, and voila! Instead of having a perfectly worded resume and cover letter 70% completed (and thus of no use to anyone), I'm focusing on churning out fully completed information at 70% perfection.

A wise man recently told me that I'm far more likely to land an interview with an imperfectly-submitted resume than no resume at all. And, as the Hegemom recently said, aiming for perfection will only leave me feeling dissatisfied with life 99% of the time. This, among other things, is why she's the Hegemom.

(Semi-) New Revelations

So The Philosophress hit up UCLA yesterday for some more grad school events, checking out the curricula and people. Apparently there are other high-powered professional-type women who marry dorks like me. This made me feel a tad better -- Money Magazine recently had an article on households where the woman is the Chief Breadwinner -- and this will certainly be true for us soon if the current trend holds.

I've gotten myself in trouble trying in the past trying to make the Absolute Best Decision for us (part of the reason why the CA move was so horrendous), and I'm trying to scale back and do my thing instead of patterning my life after everyone else's.

The Philosophress said lots of people up at UCLA want to meet me, because I sound fun and exciting -- which is definitely who I am when I'm in my element, but less so when I'm trying to be all official and responsible. Thankfully, I think I've learned what happens when I try to be the uber-driven one in the house. Instead, I get to be the comic relief.

I apparently have kindred spirits, because other female MBA applicants have married husbands who write poetry, are musicians, and who cook. So much the better, I say. I'll leave the big business decisions to other folks, so long as I get to blog and tinker with music and read. As I told someone yesterday, I feel like somewhat of a Superhero -- doing all of this creative/cultured stuff on the nights and weekends after being all buttoned-up and businesslike on the job during the week.

Here's my roadmap, and I'm trying to stick to it. (Well, all but the part where it suggests Forest Ranger as a possible career -- these things aren't right all the time, you know.)

In the "Life Isn't Fair" Category,

The Philosophress and I went sailing today, since it was 80 degrees and all out here.

Here's what I am discovering: life is more enjoyable when I can take breaks from the banking (not exactly on the list of things I excel at) to putter around and compose newsletters on the computer (one of the things I would do full-time if it paid a living wage).

Currently, it's just on a volunteer basis, because for the first time in my life, I'm officially popular -- having been elected recently to the board of the local Notre Dame Alumni Club (with at least 75% of the precincts reporting). In grade school, I was always the dorky kid with glasses and tall striped socks running for Student Council Secretary that had super-cool flourescent campaign posters but a nerdy and decidedly unfunny speech each year during the school assembly. Now they've asked me to edit the quarterly newsletter, which means I legitimately can spend copious amounts of time obsessing over margin width, kerning, and font selection, not to mention the fact that the pen (or, in the 21st century, my "delete" key) is mightier than the sword when it comes to editing articles.

Suffice to say, the club newsletter will be proofread and uniform this issue, with further redesign elements coming next quarter. And it gives my mind a chance to craft something out of words instead of numbers, which is a welcome change of pace.

Good Times

For those of you who want to know what a winning wife sounds like, read the post below. Goodness gracious, she does her homework (or she has to listen to my daily rants, one or the other).

Couple reading recommendations for all you out there in TV-Land. Well actually, I guess I recommend because these books make sense for where I am, not necessarily where you are.

First is Wild at Heart. I read this in college, but now that life has taken its toll/reared its ugly head/displayed its sense of humor, I'm finding it more practical and true than ever. For any and all males who feel like they've done more wrong than right or have taken a journey that led to unexpected locales and don't know how to get back.

Secondly is a book called Boundaries. The Philosophress and I aren't finished with this one yet, but it's quite applicable to where we are. I'm sure there are those of you who can relate to needing to establish independence and navigate relationships with *ahem* certain family members. Much like Wild at Heart, this is more of a "discuss and progress along a continuum" subject, with many conversations ahead. So for those of you who I'll be seeing over the next couple months, you can ask how we're doing on these two journeys.

More (hopeful!) good news...the Little Little Sister is auditioning for a musical production of Narnia this weekend. I'm reeeeally excited for her, because (aside from watching her grow more mature) there's a pretty good chance that this is the sort of thing that makes her come alive. It's so much fun watching her start to discover her own passions...and to start becoming her own unique person rather than an miniature extension of what everyone else tells her to do.

I hope to have many more exciting details to report next week!

And now, I must wrap up this blogging and get back to listening to the soundtrack of the musical Wicked. This marriage thing, it's a give and take ;)

How to Survive Law School

Ok, I lied. This (nor any other post) contains any helpful tidbits about mastering legalese, I just figured I’d offer some eye candy to my preferred readers. Thanks for reading.


Sincerely,


Irish Elvis, J.D., Esq.



Hmm, well that doesn’t look as fashionable in print as I thought, so on to the real stuff. On the cultural front, the Philosophress and I picked up the new Ben Harper CD. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, because I feel like it’s a fusion of so many other artists, but in a very good way. It’s sort of a refreshing amalgam of styles, yet retains its individuality without becoming corporate, which, to a music/band guy, is nice. As far as literature goes, I’m reading The Agony and the Ecstasy which, contrary to what you might think, is not about married life. Instead it’s about Michelangelo, and not the Ninja Turtle (although, strangely enough, those are coming back). I’m only about one-fourth of the way through, so I’ll spare you an impartial review at this time.

This weekend was quite flurried and hectic, but in a good way (at least for us). My sister was in town for the last time before she’s married in May, so we had family and friends in town for a bridal shower. Unfortunately, my parents still aren’t thrilled with her decision and, coupled with my sister’s refusal to examine her own thought processes critically, always makes for a “walking on eggshells” experience.

My little sister is also growing up fast, much to the chagrin of my parents. She’s 11 ½ (of course, one must count half-years at her age!) but unfortunately the parental units act as if treating her as a child will limit her physical growth and prevent the onset of the dreaded teenage angst. So the Philosophress has taken it upon herself to be the cool, older sister (-in-law) and make sure at least someone is making the Wee One think about grown up things.

This weekend was my turn. We went out to a seafood restaurant with extended relatives, a simply charming place when you’re 11 years of age. But I figured she’s old enough to try new seafood dishes, so I spent the dinner hour explaining why trying new things is good (The Philosophress has already made great strides in helping her explore new things…falafel and hummus at the Greek restaurant, skiing, etc). In all, I think she’s realizing that growing up and trying new things isn’t a horrific thing, especially when there’s someone to coach and encourage her not to be “the baby of the family.” Out of the samplings, I think she was most satisfied with the crab cakes, and since there’s a summer vacation planned to Prince Edward Island (of Anne of Green Gables fame), she’ll at least have one seafood dish to hang her hat upon.


And just to keep things light, we also reviewed how to hide pepper in the salt shaker. Hey, what are older brothers for? (Hmm, two out of the last three sentences ending with a dangling preposition…my skills are slipping.)