ONE - Bonus Post

in case you haven't already seen my ONE...that the world may know post, click here. also, click here for multiple other grace point ONE videos. keep checking back to that link, because i'm sure the number of people posting their stories on this site will grow.

ONE...that the world may know

Coffee (A Long Obedience In The Same Direction)

the lead pastor of the village church in highland village; matt chandler; recently wrote a blog (click here) in which he described the feeling of privilege he had several years ago while repeatedly being able to observe several older men join together each and every friday morning for coffee. he mentioned the feeling of accomplishment they must felt to have lived so long faithfully serving the same God.

i read this and immediately felt a connection. about 4 years ago, i began meeting every thursday morning with a group of men. we came together, shared thoughts and stories from The Bible, questioned current events, offered a place of council, tossed around useless trivia and basically shared our lives with each other over an hour or 2 of bitter coffee and pancakes. over time, the numbers have varied, some have moved to other states or countries (either permanently or temporarily) the location has changed (several times), but the intent has never changed...to come together for a common good...to continue along the path of a long obedience in the same direction.

ART: pARTicipate

i have posted this week on phlebotomic. click here for the link, and let me know your thoughts...bleed it out...

Hallelujah

last night there were 2 concerts on tv...both the same band, but 2 completely different shows. the foo fighters (one of my all-time fav's) were playing on both pbs' austin city limits and vh1, live from wembley stadium. one concert, (acl) had a couple thousand spectators max, with ages ranging from teens to at least mid-sixties. a majority of the people standing politely, quite a few in polo shirts and khaki's, with a couple fans yelling out on rare occassion...a real sense of respect and attentiveness. The other (wembley stadium) packed an historical stadium with over 83,000 screaming, yelling, dancing, singing at the top of their lungs to every lyric while standing for hours in the cold rain fans. like i said, 1 band, 2 completely different shows.

i've always loved music and i've been at both of these types of shows, and each one presents a certain emotion with it. music is emotion put to sound and word. music and emotion is something i think we all crave...we are emotional beings. that presents a fear of mine...i've always felt that if i understand and repleclate something that i admire, my admiration will deplete...perhaps because i've accomplished that which seemed so intriguing to me at one point, i don't know, i'm weird like that.

see, i've always wished that i could be a musician, but anyone who knows me will tell you that i have absolutely no rhythm, can't play a music instrument to save my life and am most like 100% tone deaf...so thus, musicians and the music they create becomes very intriguing and fascinating to me. i used to try writing songs, but what good is writing words if there is no music to go with it? i still have books and journals filled with my words, my thoughs, my emotions, my musicless songs.

there was a time a few years ago when that's pretty much all i did was fill up journals with words...i didn't know who i was, and i was frightened to seek that, to find out who i was. a good friend of mine (rick) introducted me to a song that would help in shaping my life, or at least give me comfort. like i said, i felt lost, confused as to who i was, but the moment i heard this song, i felt like someone else finally understood me. i know it silly, to think that some guy who has never met me would write a song that spoke to me, but i don't think i'm the only person who's ever felt that way.

his name was jeff buckley, and the song is called fittingly, hallelujah. perhaps a few of you already know the song, but here it is to enjoy, to get lost with, to connect with...

Random Facts (of Queen, Bugs Bunny and Flatulence)

because you know you love random trivia... note: these facts have only been been mildly investigated for accuracy...repeat at your own risk!

freddie mercury, the lead singer of british music group queen, was born in zanzibar and named farrokh bulsara

the purpose of gasoline rationing during the second world war was not to conserve gas, but to conserve tires. the primary source for natural rubber at the time was southeast asia, much of which was under japanese control.

robert lincoln, son of president lincoln, was saved from a nasty railroad accident by edwin booth. edwin was the brother of abraham lincoln’s assassin, john wilkes booth.

america’s first “air force” was equipped with five hot-air balloons and fifty servicemen.

the orange river in southern africa isn’t named for the fruit or the color; it’s named for the dutch royal family who sent explorers to “discover” the area.

habitual singing causes the lungs to release leptin, a protein manufactured by the body’s fat cells that is involved in the regulation of appetite. this may partially explain why opera stars tend to lean toward the heavy end of the scale.

the baltimore ravens football team of the national football league is the only team in history to be named after the title of a poem: “the raven” by edgar allan poe. poe was not from baltimore, but he lived there for short periods. in 1849, he died there while visiting the city on business.

even though he hated their taste, mel blanc insisted on chewing real carrots to provide the chomping sounds for cartoon character bugs bunny.

using an orange-handled coffee pot to denote decaffeinated brew dates back to 1923, when general foods first introduced sanka. As a promotional gimmick, they provided restaurants and diners with orange pots that matched the orange packaging of their decaf coffee.

five to ten times as many people were killed in the peshtigo, wi, fire on october 8, 1871 than in the famous chicago fire on the same day.

according to doctors, humans suffer an average of 14 episodes of flatulence per day.

Payday = $24/month

ever wonder who made the clothes you're wearing? i know, we all assume (or at least sarcasticly hope) that each article of clothing was hand crafted by a well-educated, fairy-treated, highly-paid skilled professional with a speciality in wide leg, boot cut, designer jeans and athletic fit, button down dress shirts....but i think we all know that isn't exactly reality.

well, i wondered just that question, and i stumbled upon something that discusses just the topic. kelsey timmerman has written a book titled Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes. click here for a blog written by him giving you a brief view into his findings. perhaps it'll suprise you, but more than likely (and unfortunately) it probably won't!

Happy Friday

Re-Resolution (or, I Am A Glass House)

recently, on a group blog experiement that i'm posting for (phlebotomic, click here) i wrote that i typically don't participate in new years resolutions because 1) i'm never any good at making them and 2) i'm absolutely horrible at keeping them. i went on to blab about static on the television, rabbit ears, etc.

i thought i had moved on from that topic, but thanks to some events today and rush hour traffic that allowed the thoughts to stew in my head, i realized that perhaps i do have a new years resolution afterall. i don't think that it's just a re-solution for just me, but should probably be practiced by everyone...and here it is:

we should all live in glass houses.

why do we allow ourselves to live our lives differently depending on the situation? why do we feel that we have to act (or not act) certain ways, say (or not say) certain things depending on the audience? why do we bcc people on emails? i figure if we can't be a certain way or say a certain thing to particular people, regardless of the person's involved, then perhaps there's more to the issue than once thought. perhaps there's more we need to identify and address in our lives. why do we keep skeletons in our closets?

so, there it is... there's the challenge for everyone. and remember, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!

Phlebotomic

i have been asked to join in on a new 'group-effort' blog. it is titled phlebotomic. click here for link, or look for it on the sidebar to the right under 'other blogs and links.' below is the forward and explanation given by its creator.

"Welcome to "phlebotomic", a blog experiment that seeks to gather multiple perspectives around a common topic - one week at a time.

Having blogged almost 500 entries on a personal blog, I found that my posts became predictable. I bored myself.

I began to wonder what a blog would look like if it had multiple users all concentrated on one topic at a time. So that is what this is...Each week, the authors of phlebotomic will write on a common prompt (which could be a word or a question or something completely different) that will be provided to them and reflected in the title of their post. (For instance, the first prompt is "resolution".)

I hope that the result will be an intriguing exercise, one that stretchers both the readers and the authors. I hope that we will continue to add more authors from diverse disciplines and faith backgrounds and that we will truly engage here in a new and distinct way.

Of the title of the blog, "phlebotomic" is a medical term referring to the "bleeding out" of a patient. Here, the hope is that the faith and hope and experience of the authors will slowly be bled out so we are all richer for bearing witness to their journey."

so, there it is...a new place to engage...or at least kill some time at work. i will be posting on that blog once a week, and continue to do my best with this one... we'll see how it goes. i hope that the feeling of predictability hasn't set in yet on this blog, although i know i have felt it on more than one occassion. others posting on this group blog are: kyle burkholder, matt jennings, david e. white, mike sharrow, daniel duce, and others to come.

i hope that if nothing else, phlebotomic will allow everyone (both poster and reader alike) to expand their horizions, views and opinions in particular matters, as we read and reflect the same topic through the minds of others. enjoy!