tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-275011422024-03-08T04:27:39.905-05:00Phil LetiziaHere I find a place to run, hide, seek, and find.
Here we move from one place to another.
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"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace- only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us" - Anne LamottPhilip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-22585945638380626492008-11-17T15:34:00.003-05:002008-11-18T09:29:29.560-05:00Shameless, Shameless PlugMany of you know I'm a worship leader here in South Florida. For a lot of years now I've played the guitar and sang in front of people, but never tried to put anything out there for the world to hear.<br /><br />God willing though, in early '09, (the year of Dan Franklin) along with my sidekick Joe White in Orlando, we'll be finishing a project. A full length album of hymns and psalms. The project is still untitled, so if anything comes to mind, feel free to pass it along. The project is a compilation from a few artists/contributors, including original material from Joe and I. <br /><br />In the meantime, I created a MySpace Music page over the weekend. Just a place to put up some incredibly rough tunes, that hopefully will sound a lot better on the album. But for now, you can check them out at www.myspace.com/philletizia, as well as some recent sermons. <br /><br />Hope all is well in your town today.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/philletizia">Phil Letizia - MySpace Music</a>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-24221908471469615972008-11-04T12:25:00.004-05:002008-11-04T15:03:52.972-05:00Today, the Day<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/10/180px-Heads_on_pikes.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 213px;" src="http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/10/180px-Heads_on_pikes.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Well, it's here, talk about great expectations. It feels like I've been watching this election cycle with a lot of interest for over a year. I've made many predictions of what I thought was going to happen through the months, and I've been wrong on almost all of them. So, to venture a prediction today here, would be incredibly dangerous. <br /><br />I am still amazed however, by the beauty of our country. In no other country is the transition of power so seamless, so easy really. Although it may not seem like that to us depending on whoever we're voting for, tomorrow we will see an entirely different leadership and administration begin to take power, whichever side wins. <br /><br />It makes me think of the struggles others have had throughout the ages to be "free". The struggle that so many still fight for today. As far as I know, God willing, no one will be storming "the Bastille" today, or running around with heads on pikes like they did in France 200 years ago. (Come on, you have to love the French)In January, George W. Bush will shake hands with the next leader of the free world and in that handshake, transfer power to another man, another group, with different ideas and different means. <br /><br />Pretty amazing.<br /><br />I said earlier, I wouldn't make a prediction. But come on, I have to! So here's Phil's prediction on today's events. I know you go to your political blogs to find the answers. To Drudge, CNN, Peggy Noonan. But today you've come here, so let me enlighten you of what will happen today...<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />PREDICTION::</span> Everything early will look like an Obama landslide! All the exit polls will favor Obama causing a great deal of excitement among many voters and the media in particular. However, around 8:30pm, things will begin to take shape and we'll see that the exits are not as accurate (they weren't in '04, leading us to believe Kerry had the lead) and McCain will make a strong push. Throughout the night, it will be close, real close. We may not even know until the morning. My final prediction though. In a close, closer than people think race. <br /><br />Obama wins, 49%, McCain, 46%<br />I won't take a stab at the electoral votes. <br /><br />ON a lighter note this Election Tuesday, did everyone get anything interesting while voting? USA TODAY reported people handing out everything from donuts, to unmentionables. <a href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/11/voters-offered.html">Voting Gifts</a><br /><br />Happy Election Day! And don't go near the Bastille!Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-62642257829462552282008-11-03T13:27:00.002-05:002008-11-03T14:07:01.269-05:00Mid-ExpectationMost of our lives are driven by the hope of outcomes. We stage a play each day in our minds of how things could break for us, how life could turn our way. We are focused on expectations. From relationships to business, political hopes, to sports dreams. Every day, what wakes us from our sleep is the expectation of an eighteen hour block of time being better than the last. <br /><br />The reality however comes when our head hits the pillow and we come to understand that some of those "Great Expectations" have been met, others dashed, while a few were just simply forgotten about. All of this makes me wonder what drives our hopes and desires. What is it about our hearts and minds that allow our expectations to hijack us like a coal car barreling down the rails of dark shaft. The ride is fast and long but the reach for the handbrake becomes more and more difficult the farther down the mine of expectations we run.<br /><br />Maybe Calvin and Hobbes were right. <span style="font-style:italic;">"I find my life is a lot easier the lower I keep every one's expectations."</span> Maybe an eight year old Calvin can deal with a more balanced life of expectation than I can.<br /><br />Dickens saw it when he wrote the classic, <span style="font-style:italic;">"I never had one hour's happiness in her society, and yet my mind all round the four-and-twenty hours was harping on the happiness of having her with me unto death."</span> His story of <span style="font-style:italic;">Great Expectations</span>, tells the story of our expectations. That whether something is ultimately good or bad for us, we're governed by the hope of it coming to be in our lives. Even if "one hour of happiness" is all we feel, we beat and scratch for it the other twenty-three long hours. <br /><br />Whenever we find ourselves in the midst of a situation, a decision, or a problem, we scream for balance. Balance becomes the expectation. But that reality is more elusive perhaps than any other expectation. Will my life ever settle into a balanced, healthy one? Will my views, lifestyle, and hopes reflect a "mid-expectation" world?<br /><br />But that world is boring, and maybe that's no world I want to live in. Really, after all our work and toil is done under the sun we still need to come back to the realization that everything is for nothing if we don't have something rooting peace deep into our souls. <br /><br />One of the joys of being human is the hope of expectation. It can carry us through the darkest of hours, and the deepest of disasters. The greatest of expectations is the hope that contentment and peace can actually be experienced in this life. The hope that when my head falls on the pillow top, it finds true rest and not continual uncertainty.<br /><br />The greatest of expectations belongs to the peacemaker. The one who in all opportunities strives for peace because peace is found in his or her heart always. <br /><br />And these shall be called, "Sons of God." <br /><br />Peace is set in the hearts of the sons and daughters of God. The reality of hope, not the expectation of hope, has calmed them to know and love peace, to feel and experience peace, and balanced, content lives here on earth, waiting for the greatest expectation... the coming of the king of peace. <br /><br />The One who will set every expectation and desire in its proper order.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-37934029982979105652008-10-15T13:29:00.002-04:002008-10-15T13:49:02.032-04:00Fetus Fatigue<a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/03/recoving-from-fetus-fatigue.html">Fetus Fatigue</a><br /><br />Many of us are tired of the election process. The discussion, the debate, the issues. But these are important times with increasingly important issues. I've tried my best to stay out of the fray, let dialogue take place and see where the chips fall.<br /><br />It has become taboo to be a "one-issue" voter in this election cycle. Whatever side of the aisle you are on, to believe in one, "titanic" issue, is viewed with a skeptical eye. <br /><br />I love that younger "evangelicals" are becoming more and more passionate about the environment, poverty, Africa, and human rights around the world. Peace around the world is our hope and aim and we pray for it and seek its coming. I still cannot shake however, the issue that looms... abortion. <br /><br />Even as some of you read this, you may be saying..."Oh, here we go". By posting this I am not imploring you to come to his conclusion. I just hope we do not sleep on it, and you consider it strongly.<br /><br />Douglas Gruthius, who is a Christian philosopher and apologist, wrote an open letter to "young evangelicals", entitled "Fetus Fatigue". It's linked below, and though his voice is strong, and his tone confrontational... I just can't shake it.<br /><br />It's not a "faith" issue. It's not a "religious issue".<br /><br />It is a human rights issue. <br /><br />For the least of these...<br /><a href="http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2008/03/recoving-from-fetus-fatigue.html">Fetus Fatigue - Gruthius</a>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-2658288269342221502008-09-26T01:10:00.003-04:002008-09-26T01:31:13.634-04:00PrecedentThe economy is the only issue on the minds of most people. From young to old, rich to not so rich, we're all thinking about it. I still can't seem to get my head around how it's all happening, but it is and I'm trying to keep up. For those of us who are young and in our first "real" job, starting life and looking ahead, this is our first big dose of reality on the national scale. Even with 9/11, i was still too young to feel it myself. I saw it, experienced it, but it didn't shake up my world like this could.<br /><br />It's scary.<br />Mainly because I don't understand it, though I know I'll be affected by it.<br /><br />Then today I thought of my 82 year old grandmother. i thought of a generation who grew up in a decade long depression, and lived and fought through the Greatest War the world has ever seen. What did they think about? What was their outlook? How could they have thought things were going to get better? <br /><br />And I think of my parents, who felt the chill of Cold War. Who waded through the endless nights of Vietnam, oil shortages and rampant inflation.<br /><br />This is not a pro-USA note trying to say, "We pull through, we always do." I'm not naive. But, there's hope to see that life isn't always about a mortgage, 401K, or job security.<br /><br />And there's precedent. <br />In the voice of my Grandmother.<br />In the eyes of my Father.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-60117378371441308902008-09-06T16:07:00.006-04:002008-09-06T16:49:33.686-04:00Game ChangersThe past week has brought an interesting analogy to the world of politics and the American landscape. Sarah Palin's rocket launch into the world of everyday America has many calling her a "game changer". The type of player who forces their opponents to revert to different tactics, to scrap previous plans and adjust accordingly, because if you don't, you lose. She has changed the entire dynamic of the election. The star power and bravado Barak Obama brought to the national stage over the last year was just as powerful, and his rise almost as fast. Both of these personalities have sparked the attention of average Americans, much like an incredible sporting event does, or a Soprano's series finale. <br /><br />A "game changer", as the term is used for Palin, turns a situation upside down, on its head. You have to start over.<br /><br />We're all looking for that type of moment. The moment in our lives where things go blurry, fade, black, and then upside down. Granted, we want it to go for the better, but we want the game changer, we need the game changer. How it comes... well, that's the risk, the Hail-Mary pass. It fails most of the time but once in awhile, it changes careers, lives, loves, and us. It changes US.<br /><br />It can come with a team picking up that one player, the last piece of the messy puzzle that makes things work, puts you over the top and turns a franchise around for years to come. It can come by doing something so unexpected everyone has to sit a little closer to the edge of their seat to see or hear what you're about to say. It can come when a church is in the midst of a step that could change the course of its future. Something risky, that people may not respond to. They need the game changer. <br /><br />It's scary. But a good shake up is what we all need.<br /><br />Or, it can come while you sit in a car with friends, having a conversation that changes you. The kind where for the first time things are revealed, exposed, and brought to light. Where it doesn't seem so bad and for the first time in a long time you're able to breathe life, freedom, and ease into the situation. <br /><br />Change is dynamic.<br /><br />Change has been the tired, yet effective dynamic of this election year. It plays. Now and always. You know it when you see it. You feel a new dynamic when its there. It's here on both sides. Which way you go is up to you. But to say it's not here, and that you don't need it is even more risky. Not just on the national stage, but on the personal. <br /><br />Where will it come from? <br />How will it show itself? <br />When will your life be turned upside down? <br /><br />In the middle of a conversation?<br /><br />It did for me.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-63771395591898635062008-09-03T00:01:00.000-04:002008-09-03T00:02:43.452-04:00Love (III)Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,<br /> Guiltie of dust and sinne.<br />But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack<br /> From my first entrance in,<br />Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,<br /> If I lack’d any thing.<br /><br />A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:<br /> Love said, You shall be he.<br />I the unkinde, ungratefull? Ah my deare,<br /> I cannot look on thee.<br />Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,<br /> Who made the eyes but I?<br /><br />Truth Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame<br /> Go where it doth deserve.<br />And know you not, sayes Love, who bore the blame?<br /> My deare, then I will serve.<br />You must sit down, sayes Love, and taste my meat:<br /> So I did sit and eat.<br /><br />- <span style="font-style:italic;">George Herbert</span>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-74778137871092506212008-09-02T11:24:00.008-04:002008-09-02T12:12:20.350-04:00Mayer (Say what you need to Say)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:1JPJA0rPJgZwWM:http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/John-Mayer-mm01.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:1JPJA0rPJgZwWM:http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/John-Mayer-mm01.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I went to see John Mayer in concert Sunday night in West Palm Beach. This was my third Mayer show, second at the outdoor amphitheater venue in West Palm, and each time I see his show, it gets better and better. <br /><br />What a way to spend the Sunday before Labor Day, when you know Monday is a day off to do whatever your heart wishes. Fifteen of us made the 45 minute drive to WPB for some tailgating before the show began. Sun out, beer in hand, music playing, and friends all around, all we needed was a decent show and I would have deemed it a very good day.<br /><br />What we got was more than a decent show. It was great.<br /><br />I'm not the litmus test for this. Asking someone who is a fan of an artist, or someone who is already supporting a candidate to evaluate a performance or a speech isn't very helpful. They're already a fan and most likely approved. But I love watching those that are skeptical or unimpressed, and asking them if they were swayed in anyway to think differently. And for many reasons, there are always those skeptical about John Mayer.<br /><br />The coolest part of the night was not how great his surrounding band was. <br />They're great. <br />Or how great the set list was. <br />It was great. <br />Or even how they were doing everything they could for the last show of the tour to be the best. <br />They did and it was great. <br />The coolest part was watching some of my friends who didn't like Mayer and who just came along for the party, get into the show and walk away fans.<br /><br />I'll just share three highlights from the show.<br /><br />1) During the encore, Mayer pulled out the Eddie Van Halen guitar and did a pretty great, although nothing drastically different, version of "Panama". Mayer ripped on the guitar while his other band mate sang the lead. Needless to say, the<br />crowd went ballistic. <br /><br />2) Vultures/Gravity - This was my third time seeing Mayer since the Trio/Continuum releases, and each time the tandem songs of "Vultures" and "Gravity" steal the show. With long jam sections within, the show hits a level where Mayer is at his best, on the guitar, vocally, and lyrically. The show hit a 10 on the cool meter.<br /><br />3) The surprising moment for me, and the highlight of the show Sunday night came during "Say". Since its release as a single earlier this year, I never particularly liked the song, but Sunday night it stole the show. I can't quite even say why, but the show took the next step. There were three or four of us that felt the same way. "Say" is a song that flexes Mayer's pure songwriting skills. Something he seems to get better and better at as the years go by. <br /><br />You can always count on him entertaining the crowd between songs as well, with one of the more self-deprecating on stage personalities in music. <br /><br />All in all, another great show, another great crowd and time for friends. And the best part of it all for the thousands there...<br /><br />No work on Monday.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-380431011217281242008-08-29T09:15:00.006-04:002008-08-29T18:58:50.880-04:00RoutineI've tried to make a few changes in my daily routine. Since I moved last week I thought it was the perfect time to implement some things. I read a <a href="http://cameronconant.blogspot.com/2008/08/action-and-passivity.html">recent blog</a> which said that change usually comes through failure, which I agree with. We've all had to stare ourselves in the mirror at times confronting those parts of us we know need to go away and hide somewhere. These are small in nature but like so many changes, I hope they will lead to others. <br /><br />So here's a sample of the new weekday morning routine, that's got my life all turned upside down. <br /><br />For at least one week, each morning I've got up at 6 am, ran with the guys, gone to get coffee, made breakfast, and spent a couple hours writing each morning before heading into the office at the church. It's been one week, but so far so good. I'm not getting enough sleep, still going to bed really late, but that's never going to change. <br /><br />I'm a big believer in change. Change leads to other changes. So, even if it's small, there may be something big following right behind.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-5606384147338052462008-08-27T12:36:00.002-04:002008-08-27T12:37:54.212-04:00Red is the Color<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:aHEpegGLd_k2eM:http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/1ds2-2/red-gerber-daisy.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:aHEpegGLd_k2eM:http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/1ds2-2/red-gerber-daisy.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Music and Lyrics by Steve Earle, from the album,<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Washington Square Serenade</span><br /><br />North wind blowin` like a hurricane house<br />Old man leanin` like he`s pullin` a plow<br />Neck bowed, bendin` like a willow bough<br /><br />Red sky color of the end of time<br />Bleeds dry runnin` down the center line<br />Wise guy pretends he doesn`t see the signs<br /><br />Bad news everybody talkin` `bout<br />A short fuse a half an inch from burnin` out<br />All used up beyond a reasonable doubt<br /><br />Make way for his majesty the prodigal king<br />Still taste the poison when you`re kissin` the ring<br />Don`t say he never gave you anything<br /><br />Deep breath the calm before the storm begins<br />Cold sweat pretend that you ain`t listenin`<br />Don`t bet on gettin` by with that again<br /><br />Short ride from here to where the beast resides<br />Fine line that separates the shadows inside<br />Make mine a double shot of cyanidePhilip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-26507434323687170842008-08-26T09:45:00.007-04:002008-08-26T09:59:11.882-04:00Faith thrown OverboardMany hear the word faith and feel the bitter cold rush of uneasiness creep up their spine. How can so many people be sure about things? How can they claim to have a better grasp on all of this than me? Faith is certainty to many. Unwavering. Commitment. Belief in something no one can see, and no one can feel. How can you be sure?<br /><br />There are different levels of certainty. The hitch is, they’re unpredictable. Some come easy, while others feel so unattainable and far away. We push them back under our pillow at night to deal with another time. <br /><br />For those who believe, who hold tight to faith or a certainty in things not quite understood still have room for uncertainty, for doubt and questions. Yes, it’s still there. The lie we’ve bought and sold, the one which those less certain than us can never be allowed to see has not only harmed the faith of others, but ours as well. <br /><br />Jeremiah, an Old Testament Hebrew prophet, the young man charged by God to give the worst message one could give to a people group, tossed and turned in his uncertainty. Like two wrestlers grappling on the mat, within his own mind he held his depression. His cries of destruction in a time of peace were as lost on those who heard them as a child lost in a dark forest. <br /><br />What’s unique about Jeremiah though is his own uneasiness, his own questioning relationship to God. When the task God gives leads you to the stocks in the city square, a cry of complaint is understandable.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />O LORD, you deceived me, and I was deceived;<br /> you overpowered me and prevailed.<br /> I am ridiculed all day long;<br /> everyone mocks me.</span><br /><br />The prophet of God, laid bare in the center of the city for the world to mock and scorn. His faith leading him to a place of question, <br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />“Is this the plan? Is this what you intended for me?” </span><br /><br />Yet the beauty of faith, for those who embrace it as hard as it is for others to understand, is the stabilizing of our emotions. Faith brings bandages when we’ve been overpowered.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />11 But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior;<br /> so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.<br /><br />13 Sing to the LORD!<br /> Give praise to the LORD!<br /> He rescues the life of the needy<br /> from the hands of the wicked.</span><br /><br />The song of faith somehow finds our lips as if it had been stored somewhere deep inside us without our even knowing. It comes in our weakest moments. Our grandmothers words who prayed over us while we sat on her lap, or the sound of a hymn we were sure we had forgotten long ago, surges through our thoughts. <br /><br />Faith flows like a rushing river. But it can be fleeting. <br />Here and gone.<br /><br />There’s a special place in my heart for Jeremiah. At times he seems delirious, confused. Other times he’s composed, sure, and strong. From one moment to the next he is unique. <br /><br />He feels and looks like me. <br /><br />From complaint to praise, from accusation to despair and back again. What a song of faith he sings in verse 13. “He rescues the life of the needy. Sing to the Lord!” Followed by cursing the day he was born, and the one who even carried the news to his father!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">15 Cursed be the man who brought my father the news,<br /> who made him very glad, saying,<br /> "A child is born to you—a son!"<br /><br /> 16 May that man be like the towns<br /> the LORD overthrew without pity.<br /> May he hear wailing in the morning,<br /> a battle cry at noon.<br /><br /> 17 For he did not kill me in the womb,<br /> with my mother as my grave,<br /> her womb enlarged forever.<br /><br /> 18 Why did I ever come out of the womb<br /> to see trouble and sorrow<br /> and to end my days in shame?<br /></span><br />If this were your first introduction to Jeremiah you would think he was out of his mind. From one moment to the next his mood flips from sturdy to unstable. From faith to despair. He is the “weeping prophet” because his heart was ripped apart by the message God put in his mouth for his people. His city would be lost, his people without a home because they continued to run from being righteous and just. Their streets crowded with the poor, with the widow and the orphan, yet their temple filled with the rich and upright. Their lips gave words, but their hearts carried different actions. <br /><br />Jeremiah came into the mess reluctant, young and unprepared to call them back. Faith though has a funny way of calling us to something we can’t do. Belief comes out of nowhere to get me through what will come next, my venom like complaint, my cursing, my despair, and my despondency. <br /><br />The owner of faith also knows hope. The promise that in the middle of our uneasiness, in the middle of our doubt or anger, things are ultimately not determined by us alone. Jeremiah’s depression and joy finds its moments of peace in the promise of hope. “He rescues the needy.” He knew that what saved him in his moments of weakness, his times of mental and emotional instability was the hope that someone could save him from the pain and uncertainty. <br /><br />During the last night before Jesus’ death, he found himself alone in a garden praying. Their he wavered and shuddered in pain and mental and emotional stress. Like Jeremiah moving from one thought to another, contemplating the message God had called him to carry out, he came to the place where he cried, “Father, may this pass from me?” The basis of our faith however, the center of our hope, is that in that moment, Jesus answered his own question, “Your will be done.” He carried on with the task. When Jeremiah, when you and when I waver, when we are strapped by our depression, our inner agony, we buckle. Our faith like a ship that’s lost its man at the wheel, crashes on the rocks. <br /><br />It’s OK. <br /><br />This is the center of faith and hope. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Our<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span> faith has thrown us overboard. Jeremiah and I have been lost time and time again in our own faith, but the ultimate hope comes not in our faith, but in the certainty of Jesus. In his moment of weakness he carried on so that in my moment of weakness, my moment of doubt, I could hold onto him and not myself. <br /><br />Faith is not being certain in yourself, or in everything this world throws at us. Faith believes that in our moment of trial, cursing, or joy, we are holding onto something other than ourselves. We’re holding onto the one who was made weak for us, that we may be strong in him. <br /><br />Even in the darkest of nights, and the happiest of days.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-12653065611932428452008-08-24T08:23:00.002-04:002008-08-24T08:24:46.305-04:00LaterJesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, <br />but you will follow later."<br /><br />John 13:36Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-68797268994148048322008-08-21T16:12:00.003-04:002008-08-21T16:27:12.304-04:00Deep Green Conversation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://deepgreenconversation.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/christiansurfers.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://deepgreenconversation.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/christiansurfers.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The color Green is everywhere. Malls, restaurants, TV commercials, everyone is trying to bring Green into their world. So much so that "being green" in my mind has become more of a fashionable marketing ploy than actual active environmental conservation. <br /><br />For a host of reasons Christians have struggled with how to position themselves on the issue of the environment. Perhaps because much of Evangelicalism has aligned themselves with conservative politics which has always been seen as anti-environment, whether fair or unfair. Wherever you find yourself on the political pendulum, balance is always the center mark. <br /><br />I went surfing the other day when Tropical Storm Fay came ashore, and maybe that's why this article I read today from Christian Buckley caught my eye. It's one of the more balanced approaches to the environment from a Christian I've ever read. <br /><br />We all seem to go one way or the other on this issue. Let me know what you think.<br /><br />Read it here:: <a href="http://deepgreenconversation.org/touching-god-in-the-waves-part-1/">Touching God in the Waves</a>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-13134956525352019352008-08-19T01:17:00.005-04:002008-08-19T01:33:38.691-04:00Fay<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:09DRwQdq-FX8PM:http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-08/41686723.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:09DRwQdq-FX8PM:http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-08/41686723.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>You can't quite understand life in South Florida until you've experienced your first hurricane. If your home has always been here, then the topsy-turvy hurricane season is something you're used to. Something you're prepared for.<br /><br />Storms bring their share of problems. Extreme damage is possible, life can hang in the balance. But there are a few days in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm Beach, Key West, or Key Biscayne, when the storm is not quite a threat. More an excuse.<br /><br />Today, Fay was the excuse. She was the excuse to get off work early, and I mean EVERYONE got off work early! She was the excuse to go surfing at 2pm on a Monday in the highest seas we've had all year, in a rip current that if you're not careful could carry you to Boca, or Freeport. Fay, today was the excuse to get a bunch of guys and girls together to play Rain Football until we couldn't see anymore. The rain bands came, and another touchdown went on the board. <br /><br />Life seems to hit the hold button on these occasional So Fla days, and we love it. School stops, work shuts down, and we head to the beach, the park, or the movies. <br />At least until it gets really bad, then we just wait.<br /><br />Today was the first Hurricane Day of '08, and tonight was the first Hurricane party. Hopefully there won't be many more in '08, but if there are, we hope they're a lot like Fay. <br /><br />Not dangerous.<br />Just an excuse.<br />'Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-62809819876062626962008-08-14T00:17:00.004-04:002008-08-14T00:34:28.601-04:00Beijing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:S0I1ZQCkwNy_TM:http://media.economist.com/images/na/2008w32/Ceremony_Top.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:S0I1ZQCkwNy_TM:http://media.economist.com/images/na/2008w32/Ceremony_Top.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have been a sight to behold. Whether you are a sports fan or not seems immaterial. The Olympics have a draw in and of themselves different than any other sport or any other stage. It's culture, nationalism, sports, and personalities. We watch and take them in as they shine for us, like the stars we always wanted and the heroes we never knew were next door. <br /><br />These games have another element however. <br />Something we all knew was there but couldn't quite understand, or grasp the depth of. <br /><br />China.<br /><br />The sites are breathtaking. The venues remarkable. And the culture unearthed from its hidden stage. The Water Cube is a wonder. The National Indoor Stadium, a state of the art coliseum. These games have allowed the world to not just stare through the wooden fence into the neighbors yard. They have invited us into a culture we can't quite put our finger on, and a people we hope to learn to understand. <br /><br />Two years ago I read a USA Today piece about the Beijing games and posted in response to it on this blog. I was mesmerized by the grandeur and anticipation. As we watch it now unfold before us, looking back... it's happening. <br /><br />Here's the post from a few years back... <br /><a href="http://philletizia.blogspot.com/2006/07/flying-daggers-and-olympics.html">Flying Daggers and the Olympics</a><br /><br />Zai jian.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-72433233704194174602008-08-11T15:01:00.004-04:002008-08-11T16:02:47.587-04:00On the Eve of 27Disappointment in your life is one thing, hard to manage and extremely distracting. Disappointment in the lives of others though, your friends, has begun to sting a little more. Maybe its moving on in life. Moving up in the world. More responsibility, more at risk. Relationships coming and going, some stepping out wondering and hoping, while others are cautious and practical. There's more money to spend, but there's fewer to spend it on. <br /><br />Looking into the TV late at night, you flip through your mind's Rolodex of feelings, but you can't see or feel someone else's end of the day. I've spent most of the last week trying to sort in my own mind what it means to decide. The process we all go through to make our way in life. We're all in the labyrinth, the maze turning from clear and free, to cloudy and restricted. This is the time they say, "You're young. Enjoy and don't worry." It's true. This is my time, and probably your time, and I'm enjoying it. But once in a while, no, more than that, someone else's situation takes precedence. Someone's problem is flickering on the TV late at night and I twist and turn hoping and praying for them to sort it out. To make that one turn in the maze that will take them closer to the center and not further away. <br /><br />What I believe about life has to come into play though doesn't it? Inside, the walls are high, winding, and deceptively similar. Along the way markers creep up, turns come that push us closer. From the inside I can't see over the wall, and I can't see over yours either. But from above, the maze is clear, the labyrinth wide and free with a pull to the center that we all feel deep down inside. <br /><br />I've worn the dream coat, and I've had it stripped from me. But in the end, in the end for you, the string that leads you and me through one fret to another, leads us closer to the center, to the draw of the center. I have to believe that. I have to believe that a decision, that a host of decisions won't muck up my life. If that's true, if the sum is so much greater than the parts, than what a resource that is for life! What a help for you and for me.<br /><br />On the eve of 27, I never thought this is what my life would look like by now. But the path for a brief moment seems clear, the ending is open, but I can feel the pull to the center. <br /><br />From above and from within. <br /><br />The dream coat was lost a long time ago, but there's another on my back now. One not my own, with whom life still seems dizzy and trying, but warm and true. <br /><br />For you and for me. <br />For young and for old. <br />What a resource! <br />May we find our way to the center.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-45601447959738509842008-08-04T14:20:00.000-04:002008-08-04T14:21:10.003-04:00Today, Today"Man is the creature of the moment; the past has gone from him, and over the future he has no control; it is only the present moment that is his. Therefore it is that, when he is made partaker of Christ...and the eternal salvation He imparts, God's great word to him is Today."<br /><br />-- Andrew MurrayPhilip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-58201845440297011392008-07-31T01:20:00.003-04:002008-07-31T01:39:14.275-04:00UnOriginalI've been having a tough time lately coming up with anything original. I'm noticing throughout the day these long spaces in time when I just don't say anything. I want to, but there's just nothing there to give. Nothing there to find and slap a nice price tag on for someone to buy. <br /><br />More and more there seems to be this pressure to do something completely original, something unique or noteworthy. Maybe the "broadcast yourself" world we live in makes you want to try just a little harder. Do something that will make people take a step back. No a leap back, in awe of what a gift to the world you are. <br /><br />It hurts to realize that most of my time is devoted to finding a way to make a name for myself. To push my talent, or at least what I think I do well. <br /><br />Is being young part of it?<br /><br />Not being able to come up with anything original though, also reveals how much we cling to what others say and do. We read authors and adopt what they say. We hear conversations on TV about politics and economics, and mimic them, piggyback their ideas thinking all the while to ourselves, "I could so do that better than they could!" <br /><br />I could write that book.<br />I could make that album,<br />I could start that business.<br /><br />But when I try...<br /><br />Nothing. Totally unoriginal.<br /><br />How do I make less of myself? How can I stop striving, to start... striving? I can't help but think that peace comes to those who quietly live, resting in something they haven't strived for themselves. <br /><br />I just want to stop. Be content. End the race towards originality and a billboard with my face on it, and smile. Maybe say something like, "Hey, I'm Phil... Nice to meet you."Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-80304250852877308432008-07-28T14:39:00.001-04:002008-07-28T14:41:57.189-04:00restPsalm 116:7 <br />Be at rest once more, O my soul,<br /> for the LORD has been good to you.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-2733854359913815482008-07-21T16:55:00.003-04:002008-07-21T16:59:52.768-04:00Doubting ThomasWhat will be left when I've drawn my last breath<br />Besides the folks I've met and the folks who've known me<br />Will I discover a soul-saving love<br />Or just the dirt above and below me<br /><br />I'm a doubting Thomas<br />I took a promise<br />But I do not feel safe<br />Oh me of little faith<br /><br />Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face<br />Then I beg to be spared cause I'm a coward<br />If there's a master of death<br />I bet he's holding his breath<br />As I show the blind and tell the deaf about his power<br /><br />Can I be used to help others find truth<br />When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie<br />Can I be led down a trail dropping bread crumbs<br />That prove I'm not ready to die<br /><br />Please give me time to decipher the signs<br />Please forgive me for time that I've wasted<br /><br />I'm a doubting Thomas<br />I'll take your promise<br />Though I know nothin's safe<br />Oh me of little faith<br /><br />*Lyrics from the song "Doubting Thomas" by Nickel Creek, from the album <span style="font-style:italic;">Why Should the Fire Die?</span>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-39982998053186431422008-07-14T15:14:00.002-04:002008-07-14T15:31:13.884-04:00AnglerI'm an Angler.<br /><br />Situations arise, circumstances present themselves, and I take. Throughout the conversations of the day I stand like a poacher, waiting to pounce on the nearest and clearest opening. To listen, but not really listen, until the moment for my say has come. The moment when my angle is clear, practically asking me to follow it. <br /><br />There are two in this conversation, sometimes three or four. But really, there is only one. Only one, more often than there are more. I'm an Angler. I fish and wait for my opportunity. <br /><br />Is every meeting, every confrontation, every joy tarnished by my greedy fingers? Are there times when I will ask the questions? Times when I will steer this ship to areas better for others? <br /><br />I'm looking for angles.<br /><br />Where's my angle?<br /><br />Do you feel it when I talk to you? Do you notice my dazed look? The glassy eyes, the attention but not real attention. <br /><br />Someone will find out. Someone will cry foul, and stare me down with an expression of disdain and they'll walk out. <br /><br />There's always an angle. For all of us. Some just take it more than others. Or they take it every time. I may be even taking the angle with this.<br /><br />I AM AN ANGLER.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-12027780302732472422008-07-11T01:17:00.013-04:002008-07-11T11:01:57.159-04:00Unreleased<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:t8C-DGH41Hm9TM:http://www.puremusic.com/71assets/72ray1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:t8C-DGH41Hm9TM:http://www.puremusic.com/71assets/72ray1.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>There are times when you come across a song that hits everything for you. In the past few months , Ray LaMontange has become one of, if not my favorite artists. This on the edge, raw, yet familiar singer-songwriter from Maine captures the hope and desperation of love and pain in each and every breath and lyric. <br /><br />Recently on YouTube I stumbled across a video of an "Unreleased" Song by LaMontagne. The Video is choppy and not very good, but still there's something about this song. So I did some hunting and found out that hopefully on his new upcoming album, LaMontagne will release this song. Even the title of the song stops you. It's called, <br />"You Are the Best Thing that ever Happened to Me". <br /><br />Here's the link to the video and below are the lyrics. Stay tuned for an upcoming review of Ray LaMontagne's first album <span style="font-style:italic;">Trouble</span>. One of the great albums of the decade.<br /><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=-H1mZhQQ92M&feature=related">Video Clip</a><br /><br />"You Are the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me"<br /><br />So baby,<br />Its been a long day babe,<br />Things aint going my way,<br />I think I need you here,<br />You clear my mind.<br /><br />And baby,<br />The way you move me its crazy.<br />You see right through me,<br />You make it easy,<br />You please me and you dont even have to try.<br /><br />And you are the best thing thats ever happened to me.<br />And all this junkies desire,<br />My angel on fire,<br />You wont make me a liar babe.<br /><br />Cause you are the best thing thats ever happened to me.<br />And its the woman in you,<br />That makes me want to be with you for always.<br />Yes its the woman in you,<br />That makes me want to be with you for always.<br /><br />Now both of us have known a love before.<br />To come on up from the sun like the spring <br />just walk on out the door.<br />Well ooohhh our hearts are kind and are hearts are strong.<br />When Im by your side, baby I am where I belong.<br /><br />Cause you are the best thing thats ever happened to me.<br />And its the woman in you,<br />That makes me want to be with you for always.<br /><br />Baby,<br />Weve come a long way baby.<br />I hope and I pray that you believe me<br />When I say theres nothing<br /><br />Cause you are the best thing that ever happened to me,<br />And its the woman in you,<br />That makes me want to be with you for always.<br /><br />Yes its the woman in you,<br />That makes me want to be with you for always.<br />For alwaysPhilip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-90376510831379665222008-07-08T11:29:00.002-04:002008-07-08T11:31:01.523-04:00Faith"Faith looks back upon the past, for her battles have strengthened her, and her victories have given her courage. She remembers that God never has failed her; nay, that he never did once fail any of his children. She recollecteth times of great peril, when deliverance came; hours of awful need, when as her day her strength was found, and she cries, “No, I never will be led to think that he can change and leave his servant now. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me, and he will help me still.” Thus faith views each promise in its connection with the promise-giver, and, because she does so, can with assurance say, 'Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!'"<br /><br />- Charles Spurgeon, from "Morning July 8th",<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Morning and Evening</span>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-27879459314459434532008-07-07T13:43:00.005-04:002008-07-07T13:56:53.937-04:00Life Story (Short Version)Some of you know I'm in the midst of the ordination process with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (<a href="http://epc.org">EPC</a>). This began a little over a year ago but is coming to the key moments soon. <br /><br />Part of the process is filling out a very extensive PIF (Personal Information File). Think of a resume crossed with a research paper. It's a monster. <br /><br />I've been working on it today and came to a part in which I just had to laugh. Part III of the file asks you to write your, <br />"Life Story". <br /><br />In their words: <br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Describe your life journey. Include key incidents that were significant in your formation as a person and your call to ministry. State your personal ideals and goals.</span><br /><br />But here's the kicker... Before that brief description it says, <br />"In one page". <br /><br />How can anyone tell their life story in one page? So that's what I'm working on today. My life story. The short version. <br /><br />If you have any suggestions about what I should include, pass them along.Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27501142.post-52174159729878421632008-07-01T03:00:00.008-04:002008-07-01T03:11:49.320-04:00Aimee Mann<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:-pRm-sqysKnndM:http://www.starpulse.com/news/media/fsmilerscoverfeat.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:-pRm-sqysKnndM:http://www.starpulse.com/news/media/fsmilerscoverfeat.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>In the film <span style="font-style:italic;">Magnolia</span>, there is a scene in which all of the major characters sing the words to the same song. As the camera cuts from one face to the next, the lyrics of Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up”, carry you through each thought, to each face, and back again. It was then that I heard Aimee Mann for the first time.<br /><br />There is pop music, and there is pop music. We all can agree that within the framework of popular culture, the bar can be set pretty low. And for that reason, along with so many others, is why artists like Mann are so important. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">@#%&*! Smilers</span> is the seventh studio release for Mann and first in three years since <span style="font-style:italic;">The Forgotten Arm</span>. Always known for her dry wit an unmatchable voice, the fans that were first introduced to her through Magnolia, will find <span style="font-style:italic;">Smilers</span> to be exactly what they’re looking for. <br /><br />Sometimes I wonder how artists like Mann find new listeners and fans. So few seem to know who her, but then you’re surprised at how many share your same feelings. Her voice is unmistakable. Her sound familiar and true.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Smilers</span> carries with it the classic Mann sound, yet a new progression. A continued expression of the same themes entertained and played with for years now. Even through the title of the album, with the expletive marks directed towards those happy go lucky <span style="font-style:italic;">Smilers</span>, you can hear her challenging us to look past the easy smiles, the fake expressions, and the textbook answers to life. <br /><br />With the breathy vocals of a one who’s seen it all, <span style="font-style:italic;">Smilers</span> opens with the upbeat and fun “Freeway”, with the playful line, <span style="font-style:italic;">You got a lot of money/ but you can’t afford the freeway</span>. In classic Mann style, she weaves stories together, and then in a line or two, summarizes the whole for us. The third track “Looking for Nothing”, proves it:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Everybody’s waiting for their thing/ Just to come along / They all got something they can pin all their feelings on</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:CZxgHmhERO1EKM:http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/1/13839/14_2008/AimeeMann_Mike_12282977_600.preview.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:CZxgHmhERO1EKM:http://images.teamsugar.com/files/upl0/1/13839/14_2008/AimeeMann_Mike_12282977_600.preview.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Chris Jones of the BBC puts it best when he said, “Aimee Mann knows it’s a deeply flawed universe we inhabit.” The universe in which addiction, disappointment, failed love, and shattered dreams, determine much of our relationships and existence. <br /><br />“31 Today” recalls Mann’s dealing with turning 31 as a musician in Boston. In her words we all feel the weight of uncertainty, and dread. Is this what its come to? Is this really how life is gonna play out? We’ve all been at that bar:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">31 today, what a thing to say/ Drinking Guinness in the afternoon/ Taking shelter in the black cocoon/ I thought my life would be different somehow/ I thought my life would be better by now but its not and I don’t know where to turn</span><br /><br />Still, through the questions, Mann’s music always finds a way for you to see the hope and beauty of this “flawed universe”. Sometimes even the music itself carries that message. The horn arrangements and surrounding parts of<span style="font-style:italic;"> Smilers</span> give it that resonance. That much needed texture and depth. And it delivers. <br /><br />True Mann fans will embrace <span style="font-style:italic;">Smilers</span> with waiting arms, while those who are new should find a voice very familiar, yet different. Here resides an artist who poses the questions to herself, provides her unique answers, and lets us listen and watch the inner dialogue take place. We all have felt the uneasy fit of this universe and we all are forced to deal with what’s “left over”. The hope and beauty we long to find keep us asking the questions, and listening to others’ questions. Mann’s insight and artistry does that for me. I’m with her…<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />Everything I do is wrong… / But at least I’m hanging on</span>Philip Letiziahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02119009561685666339noreply@blogger.com0