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| Suddenly Everything Changed...I was driving to Reading when the passage popped into my head where Jesus tells people that if their hand is causing them to sin, they should cut it off, so they can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The part that caught my attention/memory was, "better to enter the Kingdom of Heaven missing a hand/foot/eye..."
There are many ways to take this passage. Some people have gone so far as to oppose cremation because they say that if we are capable of entering the Kingdom of Heaven missing a hand, foot, eye, or anything for that matter, then burning the entire body could cause us to be unable to enter Heaven, since there would be nothing but ashes left to enter with!
What is Jesus saying here? How can a physical blemish exist in a spiritual realm?
And then it hit me:
The Kingdom of Heaven is here, and we are capable of entering it now! Every time we defend the defenseless, we are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Every time we help the poor, we are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. Every time we welcome the homeless, comfort the broken, associate with the outcasts, and visit the lonely, we are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth.
Isn't that everything?
When the Bible says liars, cheaters, fornicators, etc. etc. etc., will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, is God trying to tell us that our salvation only extends as far as those limits, or is He trying to tell us that His perfect way can't be followed to its fullest potential, His Kingdom can't be inhabited at maximum occupancy, His race can't be run at record speed when we fill our lives with sin?
And really, doesn't that make you want to change your life a lot more than the threat of hellfire and damnation? Have we become so selfish that we are more willing to repent at the threat of marring our own eternity than at the opportunity to improve someone else's existence and to ease their pain?
When you pray - and this is important - remember this line: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, ON EARTH, as it is in Heaven."
These are two ideas combined in order to conserve space in English, but if we were to write two complete sentences it would be as follows:
Thy kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
So stop whining about how life on Earth is nothing but suffering and how it will never be your home! God has blessed us, and given us the power to bless this world and make it our home.
So off with your shoes already! This is holy ground.
עמנואל– God is here.
–יואל
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| A Song Of Joy!C G
I'm so glad that I found VLC
G C
I'm so glad that I found VLC
C C7th F Fm
I'm so glad that I found VLC
C D7th G C
Singing glory hallelujah I found VLC!
Sony Handycam, oh Sony Handycam, you are a thorn in my side NO MORE!
Bring on the Podcasts, or should I say - Dobcasts.
אלוהים מצוין
Now I'll teach you a Hebrew word:
Amen - אמן
You pronounce it the same way, actually
–יואל
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| HooRAY! I'm AVERAGE!So I got a 73 on my Earth 2 midterm. The good news? The average score for the class was 70! I'm AVERAGE! Even slightly above average!
I had to send out another master to Oasis. This is the third one. The last two I've sent have been scratched or some such nonsense.
Anyway, I have a composition to write. I'm currently at about 70% in Earth and 90% in Hebrew. We'll see what happens.
–יואל
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| Feedback Loops Speak Louder Than Words I guess this could be considered my tribute to xkcd...
Diagram 1.1
Diagram 1.2
My driving experiences function as a negative feedback loop, which will continue in its cycle despite minor perturbations (such as the occasional two-hour drive averaging 85 mph).
In diagram 1.1, we see that my chances of getting pulled over increase proportionately to the increase of my positive outlook on life. Subsequently, my financial stability is inversely proportionate to my chances of getting pulled over.
In diagram 1.2, we see that as my financial stability decreases, my positive outlook on life also decreases, which, in turn, decreases my chances of getting pulled over. As the rate of cop-encounters lowers, I become more financially stable, which increases my positive outlook on life, and thus, the cycle begins all over again.
Now, for extra credit: can you guess in which point of the #@%$ing diagram I am right now?
I highly doubt I'm getting any sleep tonight. I was going 41 mph for Pete's sake.
–יואל
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| Life Through The Dramatic LensI sit at the computer, rubbing my forehead. A thin layer of something is coming off my skin - that's when I realize I need a shower. I look over my shoulder to my dining room table covered in all the necessary mess (messessary?) I have nowhere else to contain. I feel something on my arm - an insect? a small bird? a furry rodent? No, just the exhale of my nostrils. I make a "hmm, I'm thinking about something" kind of face, just for the heck of it, and continue to blog. I have trouble finding interesting content because I'm writing in present tense, and nothing interesting happens in present tense. I review my submission for "The New York Songwriters Circle" and listen through the mp3s to make sure they have uploaded correctly. Sounds good enough to me.
I enter my credit card information and glance at the time in the upper-right corner of my computer screen: "9:00." In a few hours, the football game will be finishing up, and the Delong family will be coming over to sleep with me for the night, at least until 5 a.m. tomorrow. I have spent the last few hours cleaning my room, and, except for the mess on the dining room table, everything is in pretty good shape. I wish I had a new computer, but there are more important issues to worry about - such as, I was supposed to know the song "Set Me As A Seal" for Kait's wedding. Tomorrow I am practicing it with one of her friends. The job of musician is more difficult than many people suspect. The vocation's stigma has been marred and defined by groovy hipsters and phlegmatic tokers. Do I let that discourage me? Of course. But I do my best not to. I'm a little chilly, as the song ends and I realize it is quite an easy song as long as I have the words to review. In just a few days I have two exams which will tell how well or terrible I have been at learning the material so far in my classes. I am not prepared to fail. I have never been prepared to fail. The question is am I prepared to be mediocre, which, unfortunately, I often am. Does that matter? Yes. To me it does. I have to be the best. If everyone were their best, would we all be mediocre or exceptional? I guess the most important question has nothing to do with anyone else, regarding their abilities or their opinions. In the end, I have only אלוהים to please. Even I don't always have to be pleased with myself if He is.
I played an open mic last night, and my one friend Joseph Dabney was ferociously impressed. He said, "You're going to be so famous, dude. I mean, all you have to do is play out more. How can people not go crazy when they hear you play?" To which I replied, "You'd be surprised." Another of my friends, Sam Werner, with whom I went to a Jewish service last night, was equally moved. "That was effing inspirational!" he said as I finished my set. I was pretty happy they liked the music. The guy who ran the open mic said he cried over the last song "Settle Down, Busy Soul," which I had said I would play because it made someone cry the last time I performed it live. All in all, it was a good night.
This week is the רוש השאנה (Rosh Hashannah), or Jewish New Year's Day. I think that's pretty cool. I might find a party to go to. I bet they know how to party.
I am tired, but I want to go running. I think I'll try to run a couple miles in the gym now. I'm pretty lonely.
Peace.
–יועל
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