Ravi

I had to post this quote.
It's amazing. It makes me "double over" in laughter as he says, and then makes me cry.

Death is dead.

"Have you ever wondered what you would do to frighten Lazurus after he'd been raised from the dead? What would you do to threaten him? 'Lazurus, I'm gonna kill you!' Coligula said, 'I'm gonna kill you.' He (Lazurus) says, 'Hahaha.' He says, 'stop hahahaing I'm gonna kill you as I'm killing all the Christians.' He doubles over in uncontrolable laughter, comes up for air and says, 'Coligula haven't you heard? Death is dead! DEATH IS DEAD!' How do you frighten somebody who's already been there and knows the one who's gonna let him out?"

- Ravi Zacharias

Late

It's 2:45 am...


And I have an idea.

The National

Few things are better than stumbling upon a new artist, be it a writer, musician, painter, photographer, or band.

PASTE magazine, my favorite publication, recently voted
"Boxer" an album by the little known but highly acclaimed Brooklyn outfit The National, album of the year for 2007. So when something like that happens, you must find out why...

As one friend put it, The National is this weird combination of Leonard Cohen and The Waterboys. The vocals of Matt Berninger alone are captivating. Low, trance like vocals that entice you to keep listening. And Bryan Devendorf should be considered one of the best drummers working in rock n' roll right now.

Read the Album of the Year at Paste here::
Album of the Year

It's worth the read, and it's definitely worth the buy.

The National.

"Boxer"

Get it. Love it.

1-13

How could one game, one game out of 16, seem so big?

I'm an enormous Miami Doplhins fan, and the horrors of being the worst single season team in NFL history were staring us down like Keith Traylor stares down a stack of hotcakes in the morning. It seemed inevitable. It seemed real, and fast. This storied franchise has been on the skids the last 10 years due to awful leadership, shoddy draft choices, and bad coaching. What's the result? 0-13.

But how could 1-13 feel so different?

I was impressed by Cam Cameron's words to the players in the locker room after the game. Rowdy and loud, with steam still filling the air from the showers, Cameron asked them all to slow down, take a deep breath, and exhale...

"We've been holding that in a long time,
and it feels good to let it out."

Two things happened in the league on Sunday. One team moved a step closer to perfection. One team staved off humiliation. But you wouldn't know who was who from the reaction.

Players out of control. The owner crying in the box. A head coach hugging his heroic quarterback. All for 1-13.

Cameron said, "There are a lot of men who couldn't go through what you've gone through this year. It's been hard, it's been tough. But i promise you, you'll be better men for it."

Keith Traylor, all 340 lbs of him has played in 3 Super Bowls, and he said this win is right up there with those. Wow.

1-13.

I can't help but think about how there's strength in those that realize and experience their weaknesses. How would we know joy and happiness, without also knowing struggle and failure? How can we know what grace truly is, if we don't know intimately our deepest struggles and fears? When we are made strong in our weakness, and experience our want, grace comes like a flood.

It comes like a 64 yard quick post route to a receiver with 4 catches all year.

It comes with 1-13 baby.

1-13.

The Singularity

At some point during the history of my postings on this blog I've mentioned my fascination with space. That's right, I'm a space geek. I posted a few months back about how amazing it is that we blast men and women into space atop 200,000 gallons of rocket fuel and nobody really cares anymore.

I recently was watching a History Channel program on the scientific proof of the phenomenon called,
the black hole.

There are some places in our galaxy, and in the universe, where a star dies and matter collapses to infinite density and spacetime becomes extreme.
In other words, gravity begins to suck things down towards a space-like drain, bending the horizontal plains of space.

What!?

The surface of a black hole is what is called, "The Event Horizon". But what blew my mind, was what lies at the very center...

The Singularity.

A place where they believe the laws of the universe, the laws of physics, do not apply. Where time and space do not exist. Where information could possibly go in, and never come out.

The Singularity.

I believe God set the universe in motion with laws of balance and regulation. Everything moving in their right place, their right speed and motion. But could there be this one place in our galaxy where the rules don't apply?

What!?

I don't know. What I do know is that when my jaw drops in amazement, it is usually a result of creation. The beautiful peddles of a flower. A finished piece of art from the hands of a painter. The wonder of the violent ocean. The confusion of the ends of the universe, the suspension of time.

May God be praised, in the peddles of a flower, and in the deepest unknown of the black hole.

Orphan Girl

Performed by Emmylou Harris, on the album
The Wrecking Ball
Music & Lyrics by Gillian Welch

I am a orphan
on God's highway
But I'll share my troubles
if you go my way

I have no mother
no father no sister
No brother
I am an orphan girl

I have had friendships
pure and golden
But the ties of kinship
I have not known them

I know no mother
no father no sister
No brother
I am an orphan girl

But when he calls me
I will be Able
To meet my family
at God's table

I'll meet my mother
my father my sister
My brother
no more an orphan girl

Blessed savior
make me willing
And walk beside me
until I'm with them

Be my mother
my father my sister
My brother
I am an orphan girl

Be my mother
my father my sister
My brother
I am an orphan girl
I am an orphan girl