A walking contradiction.
A dreamer without reality.
A doer with nothing to do.
An Indian with out a tribe.
A 19th Century cowboy without a horse or cow.
A drifter who is tied down to nothing.
A romantic in philosophy,
lacking in life.
Stand up! Go out and live!
Bring your dreams to life!
The past is history,
so make it become the present.
Release yourself from nothing,
to be who you want to be.
To no longer be
a walking contradition.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
He was knocking on the door, but I answered the phone
Samuel was born to Hannah. Hannah had tried to conceive before, but was barren. She prayed fervently before the Lord and she was granted her petition and she had a son. Because the Lord granted her request, she offered Samuel to the service of the Lord. She took him to the temple to be raised and serve the Lord.
One night, Samuel was lying down in the temple near the ark of God. The ark represented God's dwelling place on earth. While Samuel is laying there, he hears "Samuel!" Thinking it was Eli, the priest, he gets up and walks to Eli and says "here I am." Eli sends him away, saying he didn't call him. A little bit later, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and once again goes to Eli. Eli sends him away, saying that he didn't call him. A third time, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and gets up again and goes to Eli. Realizing that it is God who is calling Samuel, Eli sends him away and tells him that next time he hears the voice, to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." God calls out to Samuel again and Samuel responds appropriately. God then speaks to Samuel, giving him a message of what is to come.
Samuel heard from God because he listened to God. Have we taken the time to listen to God? When we want to listen to someone, do we remain distracted and ignore them or do we turn off distractions and focus solely on that person and their message? Why should we do differently when God talks? Have we taken the time to listen to God?
One night, Samuel was lying down in the temple near the ark of God. The ark represented God's dwelling place on earth. While Samuel is laying there, he hears "Samuel!" Thinking it was Eli, the priest, he gets up and walks to Eli and says "here I am." Eli sends him away, saying he didn't call him. A little bit later, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and once again goes to Eli. Eli sends him away, saying that he didn't call him. A third time, Samuel hears "Samuel!" and gets up again and goes to Eli. Realizing that it is God who is calling Samuel, Eli sends him away and tells him that next time he hears the voice, to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears." God calls out to Samuel again and Samuel responds appropriately. God then speaks to Samuel, giving him a message of what is to come.
Samuel heard from God because he listened to God. Have we taken the time to listen to God? When we want to listen to someone, do we remain distracted and ignore them or do we turn off distractions and focus solely on that person and their message? Why should we do differently when God talks? Have we taken the time to listen to God?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
On the Road with a Friend
This past weekend, I went on a trip with a friend of mine. The trip was a day trip, or perhaps I should say night trip. We left about noon and got back at 2AM.
The trip was a lot of fun. We first went to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. There we toured the facilities and saw the telescopes. That evening, we participated in their Star Party. We learned how to use star charts, the constellations, the stories told about the constellations, and got to use telescopes to see objects in the sky such as planets, craters on the moon, and nebulas.
After we finished at the observatory, we went to Marfa and saw the Marfa Lights. We spent about an hour there and watched the lights as they came and went, changed colors, and moved.
The best part of the trip though was being with my friend.
The trip was a lot of fun. We first went to the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis. There we toured the facilities and saw the telescopes. That evening, we participated in their Star Party. We learned how to use star charts, the constellations, the stories told about the constellations, and got to use telescopes to see objects in the sky such as planets, craters on the moon, and nebulas.
After we finished at the observatory, we went to Marfa and saw the Marfa Lights. We spent about an hour there and watched the lights as they came and went, changed colors, and moved.
The best part of the trip though was being with my friend.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Listening to John Mayer, Again
In 2006, John Mayer came out with the album Continuum. The first single off the album released was Waiting on the World to Change. When I first heard this song, I liked it. The music was good and the words seemed catchy. You can read all of the lyrics of the song here. You can hear the song here. But after a few times of listening to it, I realized that the song's message was about doing nothing when faced with adversity.
The opening verse says
So he describes his generation, of which I am apart of, as seeing all that is going wrong in the world. This is certainly true, there is much wrong in the world. Wars, poverty, terrorism, abuse, starvation, disease, etc... We have corrupt leaders of both parties and in many countries. However, Mayer says that his generation feels powerless, that they cannot do better for themselves and not be a victim.
The first chorus says
Instead of taking action, Mayer and his friends choose to do nothing and wait for everything else to fix itself. They do not want to become involved and have to work for what is right, they prefer to let someone else do it.
The rest of the song continues with this theme or seeing corruption, but not having the power to fix it, so they choose to take no action and wait for the "world to change." One verse even says
Perhaps Mayer has not heard of the internet which allows us to access media world wide instantaneously. We have access to more information now from more sources at a faster rate, than at any moment in history.
This is a horrible message.
When asked in The Advocate what the song meant, Mayer said "It’s saying, ‘Well, I’ll just watch American Idol because I know that if I were engaged in changing anything for the better, or the better as I see it, it would go unnoticed or be completely ineffective. A lot of people have that feeling." This is the message he is telling the world. Do not work to correct wrong doings. You might fail and you may not get attention brought to yourself.
Where would America be if this was the attitude of all Americans? Where would we be if our fore fathers had decided to just wait for the world to change and not great a new country of free people? Where would we be if Abraham Lincoln had decided to just wait for the world to change and not free the slaves? Where would we be if Susan B. Anthony and countless other women had just waited for the world to change and not fought for the right of women to vote? Where would we be in countless millions of men and women had chosen to just wait for the world to change and hadn't taken up arms against the enemies of our country? Where would we be if Martin Luther King Jr. and countless other men and women of all races had just waited for the world to change and hadn't fought for equality of all men and women, no matter their color?
These people fought not for recognition, not because they knew they would win, not for money, but because they knew what was right. They knew what was right and fought for it. Many gave all they had. Many people fought to change the world whose names are not remembered. They became involved. They got up off their couches and turned off the TV. They fought the fight, no matter how unfair. They fought to see that the American ideals of justice and liberty for all people were upheld.
America was founded by people who refused to wait for the world to change. They changed the world. The change they started has inspired people world wide to change their world and not wait for someone else to do it. Mayer's message is to just stay home and watch TV.
Which America do you want to live in? One that stands up and changes the world, no matter how hard the struggle because we know what is right, or one that just stays home and watches American Idol and wait for someone else to come and fix things?
I choose to stand up and change the world. What will you do? Will you stand up or will you wait?
The opening verse says
Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing and
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything that's going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it
So he describes his generation, of which I am apart of, as seeing all that is going wrong in the world. This is certainly true, there is much wrong in the world. Wars, poverty, terrorism, abuse, starvation, disease, etc... We have corrupt leaders of both parties and in many countries. However, Mayer says that his generation feels powerless, that they cannot do better for themselves and not be a victim.
The first chorus says
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting
Waiting on the world to change
It's hard to beat the system
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting
Waiting on the world to change
Instead of taking action, Mayer and his friends choose to do nothing and wait for everything else to fix itself. They do not want to become involved and have to work for what is right, they prefer to let someone else do it.
The rest of the song continues with this theme or seeing corruption, but not having the power to fix it, so they choose to take no action and wait for the "world to change." One verse even says
And when you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cause when they own the information, oh
They can bend it all they want
Perhaps Mayer has not heard of the internet which allows us to access media world wide instantaneously. We have access to more information now from more sources at a faster rate, than at any moment in history.
This is a horrible message.
When asked in The Advocate what the song meant, Mayer said "It’s saying, ‘Well, I’ll just watch American Idol because I know that if I were engaged in changing anything for the better, or the better as I see it, it would go unnoticed or be completely ineffective. A lot of people have that feeling." This is the message he is telling the world. Do not work to correct wrong doings. You might fail and you may not get attention brought to yourself.
Where would America be if this was the attitude of all Americans? Where would we be if our fore fathers had decided to just wait for the world to change and not great a new country of free people? Where would we be if Abraham Lincoln had decided to just wait for the world to change and not free the slaves? Where would we be if Susan B. Anthony and countless other women had just waited for the world to change and not fought for the right of women to vote? Where would we be in countless millions of men and women had chosen to just wait for the world to change and hadn't taken up arms against the enemies of our country? Where would we be if Martin Luther King Jr. and countless other men and women of all races had just waited for the world to change and hadn't fought for equality of all men and women, no matter their color?
These people fought not for recognition, not because they knew they would win, not for money, but because they knew what was right. They knew what was right and fought for it. Many gave all they had. Many people fought to change the world whose names are not remembered. They became involved. They got up off their couches and turned off the TV. They fought the fight, no matter how unfair. They fought to see that the American ideals of justice and liberty for all people were upheld.
America was founded by people who refused to wait for the world to change. They changed the world. The change they started has inspired people world wide to change their world and not wait for someone else to do it. Mayer's message is to just stay home and watch TV.
Which America do you want to live in? One that stands up and changes the world, no matter how hard the struggle because we know what is right, or one that just stays home and watches American Idol and wait for someone else to come and fix things?
I choose to stand up and change the world. What will you do? Will you stand up or will you wait?
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