A Child For an Hour

I went winter trail-riding for the first time yesterday. I felt like a kid again. I just pedaled and pedaled and pedaled... it was awesome. I rode a "Kula 2-9" from one of my buddies. It was so much lighter than my winter commuter- and the wheels were so much bigger- and so much wider... I just don't even know where to begin. The bike was amazing- but the real significant thing is what that amazing bike made possible- which was riding through trails in the woods in the snow in the middle of winter... it was incredible. I am very thankful to God for the whole experience. It was refreshing and comforting to be filled with awe and wonder once again.

Cold and Dark

So on my bike ride to work this morning, it was nineteen degrees below zero F. I was riding along, trying to pedal faster and not think about my toes too much when the thought struck me-- "it really is a nice day out." Now, I wouldn't recommend bike rides in the middle of Fairbanks winters to most people, but there is something about getting outside at least once a day and being in God's creation. I'm still trying to work out how the Godhead is evident-- but I'll keep working on it.

A Precursor To A Rough Draft

It's what I long for now
It's what I need right now
I never really got it
I never really understood...

Finding it is not so easy
Losing it is not so hard
Starting it is so much simpler
Holding on is quite another thing.

One is hard-pressed to rise without it
One is hard put to lay down in its absence
"It is not good..."
Ain't that the truth...

Where are there boundaries?
Where are there rules?
Why am I on my own in this?
When I can barely stand without it.

Having it is like a drug
But one that leads to health and not to shame
Living it is like a dream
It takes away so much sorrow even when it brings its own pain.

Who am I to question God?
Who am I to think I know better?
Who am I to think I cannot be blessed?
How dare I...?

I do not know what will come tomorrow
I do not know what will come today
I am not full of joy right now
And maybe that is ok...

Why Comments On Local Internet Newspapers Are So Worth It

I thought Pomeranians were those fruits they eat in the places like Iran and India. Oh, wait, that's pomegranates. It's so easy to confuse the two.

-from "The_Alaska_Curmudgeon" commenting on an article from a small-town newspaper.

The Spaniard Plays To The Weeping Dog

Who is it that would back down?
Who is it that would back away?
Who is it that would stay on the ground?
Who is it that would cede the day?

All around the weakness crashes
All around the death comes hard
Bombs, and screams, and ashes
We are not many and I am just one.

Ugly is this fighting
And nothing in it seems so true
But I am not born for quitting
And I was not set free for chains and fear.

I hear the stomping round and round me
Dancers in their soldier's garb
Music plays and plays and plays and plays
And I just want to fall.

One more day and one more mile
On and up and on we go
My being hurts so much I cannot feel it
And everything is numb.

Play for me that hymn of Jesus
Play for me that sweet guitar
Play for me that haunting rhythm
Play me somewhere away so very far.

"We Don't Have Time For This!"... Or Do We?

It seems that the new American President has made one or two decisions already that have been both noticed and welcomed in the international press. In an article from "Le Devoir":

Finies la torture et les prisons secrètes

Claude Lévesque

Barack Obama a ordonné hier la fermeture de la prison de Guantánamo d'ici un an ainsi que le gel de toutes les procédures devant les tribunaux d'exception qui y siègent, de même que la fermeture, «le plus tôt possible», des geôles secrètes de la CIA et l'interdiction des formes d'interrogatoires, largement qualifiées de torture, qui ont été pratiquées par les États-Unis depuis le 11-Septembre 2001.

And then from The Times:

Philippe Naughton

Barack Obama has wasted no time in getting down to the business of government, asking prosecutors to halt controversial military trials at Guantanamo Bay within hours of his inauguration.

The request was issued via the Department of Defence even as President Obama and his wife Michelle waltzed their way through a series of glitzy inaugural balls.

Mr Obama pledged during his campaign to close the prison camp on Cuba set up in 2001 to hold detainees from the 'War on Terror'. The camp's legality has always been questioned, and former inmates and human rights experts said the harsh interrogation techniques deployed inside it amounted to torture.

Last night's request was for a 120-day stay in the trials of five alleged 9/11 plotters - including the self-proclaimed 'mastermind' behind America's worst terror attack - and of a Canadian accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan. Mr Obama had been expected to issue an executive order as early as today for the full closure of the camp, but accepts that it might take months to rehouse some 250 inmates still held there.

And then from Le Monde we have an expansion of the theme.

Guantanamo a marqué les années Bush. Bagram ternira-t-il l'ère Obama ? Situé au nord-est de Kaboul, le plus important centre de détention américain d'Afghanistan compte près de 630 prisonniers capturés par les forces de la coalition. Afghans pour la plupart, tous ne sont pas des "combattants ennemis", mais, à en croire les rapports du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR), leur sort n'a rien à envier à celui des détenus de Guantanamo.

The international press is on to something here. The question is: How far is President Obama willing to go on this?

Quote of the Week XVIII

In war there is hope.

-Sarah Connor, From the TV show: "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

Go Boston...?

So apparently you really could have a CSI Boston show. That is somewhat less than heartening.

Let us drop our fragile masks
And show once more what we once hid
And look intently at each other
As when young, we once did.

New Link- "Poem Hunter"

I put a new link called Poem Hunter some of you might find useful at the bottom on the right under "Other Resources." It is a site with (among other things) a searchable poetry database. I recommend checking it out if you either have an interest in poetry, or are trying to find a poem or poet that is on the tip of your tongue, but that you can't quite remember. Cheers.

On Hope

It sometimes feels like hope is a ghost. Sometimes it is there; sometimes it is not. It is always on the edge of your vision- always on the periphery. It is as if you are more likely to feel it than to see it... and perhaps this is right and good. Still, you cannot plant desires in your own heart. You cannot plant feelings in your own heart. You cannot plant attitudes in your own heart and mind. You may want to hope... but wanting is not enough.

They say it is hard to go on without hope... and this is surely true... but we often do things we do not have good reason to do (even though good reason may exist somewhere else besides inside our own minds). People go on who seem to have no hope every day. Lord save me from my fatalism. Have mercy upon our minds and hearts, oh God.

Oh, this will be good.

I was reading Al Mohler's blog when I stumbled upon this in reference to the upcoming inauguration:

The event Bishop Robinson will open with prayer will be a huge opening rally featuring major entertainment figures and a mass gathering on the mall. Artists invited to perform at the event include Bono, Stevie Wonder, and Bruce Springsteen, along with the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington.

I just want to know why the vampire hunters have not been represented. I feel somehow slighted.

Steven is probably the originator of the ancient art of Tai Chi.

Steven invented Tai Chi during the 3rd dynasty.

The Star Trek Reference Files

I find it difficult to think clearly when I am not emotionally detached. This, of course, makes thinking about emotions terribly difficult. I can sympathize with Data. It is a lot to overcome. Always wanting a release- and always right now... quite the challenge.

Quote of the Week XVII

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night:
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke; the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off: my heart was free:
I rose, went forth, and followed thee."

-Charles Wesley

I just broke a coffee pot... very upsetting... war is war though, I suppose. We often break things we took for granted though, don't we? We are more connected than we realize.

I long for the day when Christ returns. Now I just need to prepare. How does one look to the future without ignoring or despising the present?

Some things linger far longer than you would like. The truth is often that you let them. The war is over for us when we are all dead.

God Has Been Faithful

Another year has passed. 2008 was debilitating devastating. I lost two friends to suicide and that was just the start of it. I am tempted to say (with a great sigh of relief), "wow, glad that's over," but I somehow think that that might not give God's work in this past year it's proper due.

The truth is that many great and wonderful things were done in the year of our Lord two-thousand-eight. This does not require any of us to ignore, trivialize, or hide our grief from the terrible pains of this last year. To say that God is faithful has never meant that everything has gone according to our plans. To say that God is faithful has never meant that things have turned out the way that you thought they would. To say that God is faithful has never meant that He has made it easy for us. To say that God is faithful has never ever ever meant that any of us knew his whole counsel and secret will. We simply do not know everything that we might wish to know.

In this past year (and today is my Birthday... so I have really managed to pass another year), there has been grief that is almost too much to bear. There has been sadness almost equal to times past which I had thought would never again even be approached. The questions of why have become haunting. The burden of pain has been like the weight of the world. Yet I am still here; I am still standing. God is still faithful.

In this past year, babies have been born. In this past year, friends have married. In this past year, some of our soldiers have returned home to us safely. In this past year I have gained a new appreciation for family, a new understanding of the need for relationship in my life (and all of our lives), a new heart for education, and a new understanding of friendship and love. I have had errors in my thinking exposed. I have had errors in my doing lose ground. I have had the weight of the fellowship of the Church brought to my eyes and felt it above and beneath my very being. In short, God has been faithful.

I have some new friends and I still have many faithful old friends. I did not reach perfection last year. I did not always do right. I did not always do what was best. Sometimes I did not even know that what I was doing was not going to be so good... even though upon reflection that became quite simple and obvious. People did not always do right by me last year, either. People did not always do what was best concerning me. They did not always have courage; they did not always keep faith. I hurt and was hurt in this past year. I ask that any of you whom I did wrong by this past year would beg God to put forgiveness in your heart... and I will most certainly do the same for you.

We do not always know what to do. We do not always handle our troubles well. We do not always establish appropriate boundaries with each other. We are not always very quick to forgive- and of course we are not always quick to listen. We are not always honest with each other. We do not admit that we need each other every day. When we realize that we need things- we do not always go to the right place to try and have those needs met. We do not always readily admit our part in our own troubles- so much so that we often do not even see our part because we have blinded ourselves. We get mad at the wrong persons for the wrong reasons and wonder why we find it so hard for us to forgive them. In all of our lives, in all of our concerns, in all of our woes- we forget that God is faithful. We do not trust Him. We break fellowship with other believers in times of turmoil and stop going to Church when other believers are exactly the people we should be going to. We hold on to what was never ours. We demand what we have no right to. We expect that which contradicts all our experience and all that we can gather from the Word of God and are somehow surprised that our expectations are not met. We are all of us sinful. We are all of us flawed. We all need.

And somehow, for some reason, God is faithful to His church and to his Word. God has been so in 2008 and He will be so in 2009. Blessed be His holy name.