Election Thoughts

I was 10 years old in 1994, sitting on the floor in my grandparents’ condo in Florida.  CNN played loudly on their dated TV, and they were soaking in the coverage of that year’s election results.  They called the day “historic”.  Republicans had gained control of both houses of Congress.

Many conservative pundits have compared the 2010 election to 1994.  The House will almost surely be won by Republicans, and there is a slim chance that the Senate will also change hands.  But will tomorrow be a historic day?

It seems more like a day of vengeance than a day of renewal. Not that I believe the change of guard is unjustified. But (as widely reported) it seems like this election involves more votes against incumbents than votes for challengers. Personally, I believe we need more reasoned individual voters, as opposed to calculated, corporate-like partisanship. And a little dose of idealism could go a long way. Why does it seem like voters are only focused on issues that directly impact their direct life or bottom line, rather than voting for representatives that will uphold the identity of our nation?

“We tend to like a government very much when we believe we are among its net winners. That makes it very hard to think clearly about whether any of its laws are just or unjust.” –Peter Thiel

I’ve got a mind full of blanks

I’m back and I’m going to try to remember to post consistently going forward. I was just thinking it would be pretty cool if everyone has forgot about this by now, and no one comes to the site for a long time. Hopefully I can generate some posts between now and then, so there is a nice album of posts to surprise you.

Every now and then I get on a little Julian kick, and that has been the case recently. Other than “Glass”, I was originally pretty skeptical about Julian’s independent effort, “Phrazes for the Young”. But so it’s a layered, complicated sound. The kind of pattern that comes across chaotic at first listen. You almost need to train your mind to learn this stuff. Which ends up sounding beautiful. Like scotch, almost?

Here’s “Glass”. This song needs no apology or ear training. This is near perfect.

Lately I have been chewing on “Tourist”. This took me a little bit more time to appreciate, but it’s a great song. Take a listen. Guitar patterns, horns, keys, Julian croning. And the lyrics are excellent – 4:30 – “Everywhere I go I’m a tourist, But if you stay with me I’ll always be at home”

Sorry for the stream of consciousness, but I feel like that’s the most authentic way to construct these posts. The reason that I led off with Jules is that I have been listening to the Velvet Underground a little bit more lately. They are one of his favorites, and through following Jules I started to listen. I’m actually not a huge fan of much of their music, but I love the lyrics. 60s pure rock lacked the cynicism we have infused into every part of our society. This VU quote has been playing in my head over the past few weeks. I find myself consistently surrounded by materialism. This is a reminder worth hearing. Some things never change.

“Two TV sets and two cadillac cars
Well you know it ain’t gonna help me at all”

The Velvet Underground – Rock & Roll

awake my senses

This loving patriarch was a teacher of excercise.
I remember a soft spoken smile and gentleness in his eyes.
It’s a pity that legacies lose meaning in repetitive normalcy.
And I can’t explain how I forgot the utter urgency.
Did you miss the beauty in long pauses and short escapes?
We give up resistance and we fall into line
But we march in step, in rhythm!  How unsatisfying.
The saddest part I find is the clarity of hindsight
While marching toward the battle we completely missed the fight.

http://www.kansas.com/266/story/1023718.html
http://blogs.varsitykansas.com/blog/2009/10/22/goddard-tennis-coach-john-markham-has-died/  (read the comments)

Humble Holiness

Consistently struggling with sin in our lives is either the result of (a) not understanding the severity of our wretchedness or (b) not respecting enough the unbelievable grace Christ has poured out to us.  Balancing the understanding of both our wretchedness and the beauty of grace is honestly very difficult.  If you live in constant shame, you are still living with a burden that should be bourn by Christ.  If you don’t understand your depravity without Christ, how can you ever love Him with the proper dependence?  Oswald Chambers wrote “my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and degradation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itself to me in that while I cared nothing about Him, He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification.”

I believe that in seeking ‘profound humble holiness’, we must first focus on truly falling in love with our Savior.  It’s impossible to measure up with enough holiness from a legalistic perspective — plus, that would be proud holiness.  If we are in love with Jesus, seeking obedience is our natural action.  Therein lies true satisfaction and purpose.

grand opening

Hey guys — here we go with a start.  No clue whether this is right or not but Cory got me psyched to get this thing going.  Will write back soon with more of an update!