The Humans are Dead

I was supposed to be working on a paper all night tonight. It seems that has not been the case. Oh well, less working on my part means a short blog post for you! Yay!

Mike tried to tell me to watch this show called Flight of the Conchords but I didn't listen. Then he showed me them on Youtube. Hilarious! They are a comedy duo from New Zealand. Also, if you recently watched Eagle vs. Shark you will recognize one of them as the "Eagle" in the movie. The movie is worth a watch by the way.

Check out this video of them in action.



I'll get back to my paper now. I will post again soon because I told Cait I would. I think she might leave me if I don't. So, I'll talk to you again soon.

Just a really good video to tide you over...

...until I actually post some text here.



These Days
People Press Play

I AM STILL ALIVE

The question is... are you still there?

Just a thought and a response

I'm taking the day off. Well, I took yesterday off too. But, the next two days will involve real work. At least they better. As part of my day off I was doing some reading. My older brother gave me a few books when he came up for a visit and I am enjoying them so far. They are a series called Foundations of Faith produced by RELEVANT that include works from past Christian Church Fathers. The one I am currently reading is by Blaise Pascal. He was a scientist (yup, that Pascal) and is considered a great religious philosopher. The bio provided in this book describes him as "one of the most important authors of the French Classical Period, and today is considered one of the greatest masters of French prose." So far, he seems like quite a cool guy. He died at the age of thirty-nine. I'm amazed at everything he accomplished in such a short time.

But, what I really wanted to get to was an interesting quote from his writings. It has made me think, and feel free to discuss it through the comments. I promise to reply. This man really was a genius and this is not a summary of his positions in any means, but I found truth in this statement.

135. The struggle alone pleases us, not the victory. We love to see animals fighting, not the victor infuriated over the vanquished. We would only see the victorious end; and, as soon as it comes, we are satiated. It is the same in play, and the same in the search for truth. In disputes we like to see the clash of opinions, but not at all to contemplate truth when found. To observe it with pleasure, we have to see it emerge out of strife. So in the passions, there is pleasure in seeing the collision of two contraries; but when one aquires the mastery, it becomes only brutality. We never seek things for themselves, but for the search. Likewise in plays, scenes which do not rouse the emotion of fear are worthless, so are extreme and hopeless misery, brutal lust, and extreme cruelty.

***In response***

Disclaimer: this response goes fairly far off-topic, or at least it would appear to most as off-topic. I start talking about the problem of evil in the world (theodicy) and evolution and stuff like that. Steer clear if you have fixed opinions on these topics that you don't want changed or challenged.

I'll offer my response with what I got from this passage from Pascal. It is true for me that I seem to derive pleasure from the struggle. I really do enjoy debating things, and not always to prove a point. I know that most people will choose corn over peas, but I still fight for peas because they are perfect. I think that may be why I really enjoy spending time with other people; there is no destination. I am not trying to get to some "place" where our friendship will be complete or right or something like that. You are always moving to something else, some other depth or away from it. Everything is changing and in flux. I like that.

I like constants too, but sometimes I don't like them as much. While studying for my Science and Religion test I read a very interesting article ["An Irenaean Theodicy" by John H. Hick] (Science and Religion was very close to my favourite class this semester, it was between that and my Paul class). It was talking about the problem of evil in the world and trying to answer the question of why God would create a world like ours. Most people (okay I shouldn't say "most people," that's not a very good term I think. I don't want to infer that the majority is either correct or incorrect or something like that... sorry for this tangent. I should either clarify that with "From my experience" or "I have been told that." Alright I'm done. To continue... ) have the view that "free-will" is enough to explain the evil in this world. Now, with the acceptance of evolution becoming more widespread in Christian scholarship (widespread may not be a good term to describe it... but it is there), there has been a reworking of our theology surrounding this issue. Think about it for a second, free-will could account for all the moral sin found in the world today, especially in light of a perfect creation that falls because of its free-will. But, if you have a creation that starts with pain and is born into an "evil" world, how is that the "fault" of that creature's free-will? I have heard it said that God created us like that because he knew that we would sin if given the chance, but we needed the chance to be good "worshippers" (you might have heard it said that our worship would not be glorifying to God if we were just robots, unable to make the choice between worshipping and not worshipping. That is the argument that I am refering to). This seemed quite weak to me, and rather undeveloped. I have also heard it said that we really shouldn't question the way that God made the world, seeing at it is the creation of a good God and his ways are higher than ours. I understand that (I'm sure I've said it before, especially when discussing Job or Ecclesiastes). But, sometimes it is good to want more.

Anyways, Hick looks at the idea that God created us in a two-step process of sorts. First, he created us with the capacity and intelligence to know him and then created a reality where we would come to this through a process. Okay, so to break that down in a better way, we have two ideas here. The first is that we were created with the ability to know God. But, to give us a choice between knowing God and not knowing God we were created without that knowledge "implanted." This here is basically the free-will idea, but with the twist of no "fall" so-to-speak. We were not created as perfect beings that then fell out of relationship with God, we started with no relationship. (Like my disclaimer said, this might be waaay out there for you. Don't worry, I don't necessarily believe this as for sure the way it is. But, I am always trying to get a better picture.) Now, if we were thinking totally in this free-will way, we would say that it was our free-will that made this world such a horrible place. In essence, our free-will would be what is affecting God's good creation. Here is where the second part comes in though. If we believe that God created this world with a purpose, and that purpose is come to know, love and become like God (the idea of becoming like Christ. Hick uses the idea of being created in God's "likeness" as the process part of our creation. You can think of this as sanctification too), then we need to think in terms of a process. We need to start somewhere and get somewhere else. A purpose or goal is like an arrow, you start somewhere and go to somewhere else. The start of our arrow would have to be a being that does not look like God and the end would be someone who looks like Christ. (If you want to find fault with Hick's idea, this next bit is probably your best bet... unless you have found fault before this.) Hick then goes on to basically say that the bigger the arrow the better. Or in other words, the bigger the change the more glorifying to God we are. This is then how you would explain the harshness of the world around us. To try to use a metaphor effectively, a rose born out of a harsh tangle of wild rosebushes is more beautiful than one cultivated from a flowerbed. Likewise then, a Christian born out of the harshness of our world is somehow better than one created in a garden of Eden.

This is sort of hard for me to grasp or accept at times. I don't want it to be true. I want a world where everyone and everything is not polluted by sin and pain. And, I don't want to think that our world is somehow better because of sin and pain. That is just difficult to see for me. But, I want to bring this back to Pascal a bit. He wrote "To observe it with pleasure, we have to see it emerge out of strife." Maybe there is some truth to that then. For God to truly observe us with pleasure, we have to emerge out of strife. Like a gift made from a sacrifice. See, I really don't like this. I don't want to see God as at all, in any way, as having to create our world like it is to get us in the "best" form. I just don't like it. But, maybe it is correct. I think I would rejoice in heaven more if I persevered through intense struggle and didn't turn my back on God rather than never seeing opposition of any kind. But there is a part of me that just doesn't like that. I don't just want to fall back on leaving it up to God because he knows best, but I still have to accept that. And really, I think that so much of Jesus' life points to something like this.

I don't think I have actually answered any questions, and hopefully I have not created so many for you that you cannot look at them. An overload of thinking or philosophy or theology is not a good thing. But, maybe you got something out of that mess. And all of this from a really short paragraph in a book. Amazing isn't it.

CYSI:3 A Collection of Kintrasts

You wanted it and you got it! (Well maybe you didn't want it, but now you have it, or at least you sort of have it...) It's Can You Say Indie? Volume 3: A Collection of Kintrasts!
This is truly an eclectic smattering of songs. I guarantee that you will not like some of the songs. Well maybe I shouldn't guarantee that because I like all the songs. Ok, disclaimer: You will not like all the songs on this disc unless your subconscious wants to be exactly like me. There is a very large genre range here as well, something I like in any mixed cd. And the subject matter is all over the place too. We have songs about dropping a cell phone, searching for your friends in various places, a duet about two people falling through the ice, love songs, a touching (could even be described as teary eyed) song about a nurse of sorts, a couple covered songs (both Radiohead and Beyonce), a song featured on Grey's Anatomy, one featuring a clarinet where they sing about being silent, and many, many more jems. So you want the song list? Ya you do.

CYSI:3 Kintrasts

1 Acceptable In The 80's - Calvin Harris
2 Drop The Phone - Shy Child
3 White On White Crime - The Jai-Alai Savant
4 Charlotte - Air Traffic
5 You Are The One - Shiny Toy Guns
6 Transylvania - Mcfly
7 Black Shoes - The Films
8 The City, The Airport (Remix) - Loney, Dear
9 Pink Light - Laura Veirs
10 Crazy In Love - The Magic Numbers
11 Rose - The Feeling
12 Creep - Damien Rice
13 A Bitter Song - Butterfly Boucher
14 The Sky Opened Wide Like The Tide (Remix) - The Blow
15 Silence Teaches You How To Sing - Underwater Sleeping Society
16 Fire It Up - Modest Mouse
17 Rosia - Kelly Jones
18 Lost And Found - Last Days Of April
19 When We Fell Through The Ice - Fireworks Night
20 Elephant Gun - Beirut
21 Street Of Dreams - Sofia Talvik

And, like always, a cd can be made available upon request. And, in a limited time special offer, I can burn you a compilation cd featuring every song from CYSI 1, 2 and 3 in mp3 format.

The Soundtrack of Matt's Life

Ok, I should be writing a paper, but I couldn't help my self. I started to peruse Facebook (I know... don't lecture me, I only took 20 mins or so... it's not a big deal...) and I saw this in my brother's notes. His was too hilarious so I had to try it for myself. You be the judge.

Soundtrack of Your Life

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie (don't worry, you will want to many times...) and try to pretend you're cool... and a lot of the songs fit with the setting

Opening Credits:
Get Through – Mark Joseph

Waking Up:
You’ll Be In My Heart – Phil Collins (does that call into question my manliness?)

First Day At School:
bittersweet – The Echoing Green

Falling In Love:
Unsung – Helmet (The hardest song of the bunch…)

Fight Song:
Signal to Noise (Acoustic Version) – The Cure

Breaking Up:
Rapper’s Delight – The Sugarhill Gang (Breaking up makes me turn to oldie rap I guess)

Prom:
So Long Jimmy – James Blunt

Life:
Opening the Mouth – Boards of Canada

Mental Breakdown:
Fat Bottomed Girls – Queen (Hilarious!)

Driving:
Mardy Bum – Artic Monkeys (Great driving song for sure)

Flashback:
Strangers in the Night – Frank Sinatra

Getting back together:
High Voltage – Linkin Park

Wedding:
Let the Truth Sting – David Gray (don’t ask me what that means…)

Birth of Child:
Pornography (live) – The Cure (I’m scared to make a comment)

Final Battle:
Love is Better Than a Warm Trombone – Gomez (Make love not war?)

Death Scene:
All We Have - Disciple

Funeral Song:
Rie’s Wagon - Gomez

End Credits:
Two Left Feet – The Holloways (A nice upbeat jig inducing song to finish it off, that worked quite well.)

Check out Mike's in his Facebook profile.

It has been far too long

Writing a blog entry after watching a good “romantic comedy” will surely effect its content (I just finished watching The Holiday. Jack Black definitely added a great deal to the movie. I think I will sing more often while renting movies). But, I think I will anyway.

I have not written on this thing in a very long time, as I’m sure you have noticed. I apologize. I was in no way trying to show disregard for you, faithful reader. Many things have happened since we last met. Although you may think Can You Say Indie? Volume 2 was the latest highlight from my lack of writing, it surely could not compare to Jamaica. I left for Jamaica almost one month ago, it seems like it was just last week. I still think I am recuperating from Jamaica time, but in a good way. Actually, I have been getting up earlier and going to bed earlier since getting back from Jamaica. It has been a good thing; I don’t find it too difficult to endure the ridicule from my friends when I get tired at 10. Jamaica was an amazing experience. I absolutely loved the kids in Jamaica. We spent most of our time there just one-on-one with them. I am convinced that it was the best way to influence their lives and was most changed by the time I spent with them. The world seems like a smaller place now. I like it.

I feel like I might do the trip injustice to give you a quick overview, and I fear writing it all in a blog entry would take far too long and no one would read it. But, that’s how it should be. I just wrote that one-on-one time was huge to me in Jamaica, why would that change now that I am here? So, feel free to ask me out for coffee to hear about my experience because you just wouldn’t feel the impact if I only wrote it down here. You wouldn’t see me display the actions we did singing “Walk all over you.” You wouldn’t watch my eyes start to tear up as I remember how amazing of a friend Kevin was. You wouldn’t hear my poor attempt at a Jamaican accent or the pause as I searched for the words to describe the Joy displayed by Cynthia. Yeah, it was an amazing experience.

learned so many things from my time surrounding Jamaica. The most significant thing that I brought home was an emphasis on prayer. Really, I just started to pray more when I was there. It just made sense. I mean, there we were, going from seemingly unconnected place to place singing songs, giving testimonies and hanging out. As we would drive away, I wondered if we really made an impact. Then God would assure me that I made absolutely zero impact on anyone. He was the one who did it all. That was humbling and reassuring at the same time. I learnt what it meant to boast in my weakness. My brother and I were talking the other night and he explained the importance of changing lives as opposed to imparting knowledge. I agree, and I realize that I have no hope of making a change in someone’s life if God is not a part of it. The only way that I can assure that God is involved is to pray. So I have learned that I need to pray more. I need to pray a lot. Really, I need to pray constantly; you know, without ceasing. I think I heard that somewhere once…

I am getting tired, and it is only 11. (Or, from my perspective, it is 11?! Why have I not fallen asleep yet?) There is so much more to say. I haven’t even started to tell you about the amazing times I have had with Von. I changed Von’s diaper for the first time yesterday. I’m glad it contained no surprises. Anyways, you might have to just check back later. This is all you are going to get today.

P.S. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you wore green and were proud of it. The world could use more colour themed holidays. Let's see... April Fool's Day is the next holiday in Canada... we should all wear a certain colour... or stripes! That seems to be more "foolish" than any one colour. The most colourful stripes win. Yeah, that sounds just about right.

Can you say Indie? Vol 2!

That's right, it is finally out. And just in time; I am leaving on Friday for Jamaica. After I made my selections for the cd, I realized that many songs featured prominent violins or cellos, hence the "Attack of the Strings" sub-title. Here is the track list, including a couple that didn't quite make the cut, but deserve honourable mention. And, as always, I can send a copy of the cd your way via request. Enjoy!

Can you say Indie? Vol 2: Attack of the Strings

1. Kerfuffle - Ladyfuzz
2. Commercial Breakdown - The Sunshine Underground
3. Annie, Let's Not Wait - Guillemots
4. Dumb Dumb Ditty - Farrah
5. Dream Song - Passing Stranger
6. Before I Fall To Pieces - Razorlight
7. Cannonballs - Elsinore
8. Carbon Monoxide - Regina Spektor
9. Relief - Chris Garneau
10. Sackcloth In Ashes - Small Leaks Sink Ships
11. Naive - The Kooks
12. Valerie - The Zutons
13. Welcome, Ghost - Explosions In The Sky
14. Pictures - Sia
15. Candylion - Gruff Rhys
16. Curse Your Little Heart - DeVotchKa
17. Children of December - The Slip
18. Souvenirs - Architecture In Helsinki
19. In Shock - Kristin Hersh
20. Me Plus One - Kasabian

Honourable mention:

• Dancing Shoes - Artic Monkeys (the "Matt likes to Mambo" version)
  
• Truman - Ratatat
• This is a Song - The Magic Numbers
• The End's Not Near - Band of Horses
• Starz In Their Eyes - Just Jack
• No Emotion - Idlewild
• I'm A Rat - Towers of London
• Heart of Hearts - !!!
• A Bad Dream - Keane
• Damage - Cooper Temple Clause
• Do It First - The Crayon Fields
• And seriously, there was a bunch more...
  

As you can see, I debated thoroughly each song, and I really couldn't make up my mind. I seriously considered a double cd compilation, but I didn't want to start that trend, so one cd it stays. But, if you have a chance, check out these bands and/or songs.

Oh Where is my Hair?

I'm sure most of the people who read this blog will have already experienced Matt sans long hair, but on the off chance that you have not yet... I shaved my head! (I didn't bic it however, that would be crazy.)

I should start at the beginning. I have mentioned that I am going on a missions trip to Jamaica with people from McKernan Baptist Church. It is going to be an awesome experience and I hope that we can spread the Good News of God's love to a bunch of people. Way back in January I had a crazy idea for a fund raiser and foolishly told my small group. I somehow committed to letting people bid on the privilege of shaving whatever they wanted into my head. Over the weekend at the College and Career Winter Retreat I started the bidding. Thinking that people wouldn't raise that much, and giving myself an out, I said I would not shave it unless $250 was raised total. Everyone surpassed my expectations (remember, these are poor college students and people just starting their careers) and raised over $500! They must have really wanted to see my lovely locks gone.

Matt Penner raised the most and therefore won the right to do what he wanted with my hair. He devised a plan involving hidden cards with the fate of my hair written on them. I chose card "C" and only had to loose a lock of hair! It was still scary however. When the deed was done however, the crowd wanted more. What happened next is difficult to write down; I may have suppressed the memory. Thankfully Cait recorded everything on tape and has made this video so I can relive the whole event. You can't tell, but my legs were shaking the whole time.



Here are some pictures of the final product:


Alicia's hand was shaved into my head...


My long hair in the back was left... however they shaved it up the middle...


Probably the best picture of the "hand" that I can find.


They made me wear it in pigtails for the first day. Oh, and that is Matt Penner on the right.

I called it the Red Sea Blessed Mullet for blessed business in the front and its parted party in the back. Part of the whole deal was that I had to keep my hair how they shaved it for a full week. My hair was shaved on Sunday morning which meant that I had to keep it that way until after church one week later. By the end of that week I absolutely hated the hair in the back. It drove me nuts. So, almost immediately after church I got my Mom to shave the rest off. To prove to everyone that I kept it for that whole week and didn't hide it under a toque all the time, I told people that I would take a picture every day with one of my profs at Taylor. Here are those pics.


This is Pat Fisher. She teaches most of the Leadership and Spirituality classes at Taylor. She is also my Academic Adviser because I am in the Leadership Emphasis (it's like a minor, but different because it requires work experience as well). She also attends McKernan where I work and worship. She wanted to feel my hair, so we took a picture of that. Both my classes with her have around 5 people on average. It is a weird and interesting dynamic. Pat has lots of quirks and I used to think that's all she was. Now I am starting to get past them and realize that God can and does speak through her. It is sorta cool I guess.


This is Ralph Korner. He teaches some higher level Religion courses at Taylor part time. He also used to be the Campus Pastor at Taylor. He is a great guy, a great teacher and a great example. And, apparently he wanted to give me bunny ears.


I told him we needed a picture of him "with his hand on the hand." We shared a moment as you can tell.


This is Nathan Kowalsky. We attempted to take a picture making weird faces. He looks like he is eying a delicious pie on the table and I look like I am trying to stop time a la Hiro or something. I think we both failed at the whole picture thing. But, I do have to rave about this prof too. He is teaching at St. Joseph's College at the U of A and teaches one class (Science and Religion) here at Taylor. He has two Masters degrees and a PhD and he is only like 30 or something. He is an amazing prof, incredibly knowledgeable yet still shows that he is continuing to develop his ideas. His classes always feature great discussion, although Taylor is making him have tests in his class and he doesn't want to. Last term grades were determined by papers alone and I loved it and learned a ton.

And I had to include this picture of him that he put up on his profile at St. Joe's.


He loves the outdoors and has told us about his "primitivist" leanings. For Halloween last year he came dressed like a hunter and wore a full bear pelt. I don't know many profs that would do that.


This is Brian Gold, or as most of his students call him, BG. The other guy is Jeremy Cook and BG wanted him in the picture because of his sweet suit. So I had to try and look badass. I don't think I am very good at it. BG is fairly hilarious in a weird way. He has spent a bunch of time in South Korea and is currently doing his PhD in a related field. He always has one class each semester where he requires his students to sing a song. One year he taught everyone a Korean kid's song with actions (he also taught that whole day like a Korean teacher would teach, and we had to act like we were students in Korea. It was memorable). Watching him sing in Korean and get really into the song was priceless. He also likes to put a chair on a table, sit on his "throne" and ask the class questions which correspond to participation marks. He also takes out all willing students to a authentic Asian restaurant where you all eat on the floor in a separate room, then everyone goes and sings Karaoke. I haven't went yet, but I have heard it is a blast.

So there's the story of how Matt lost his hair. It's a good one. Although I don't mind short hair, I really do miss the long hair. I probably would have cursed it in Jamaica though, so I guess it is a good thing. To truly grasp my feeling of horror the first time that I saw my hair, I tried to recreate my facial expression.

Later.

Sky Moments

I'm off to bed, but I thought I would quickly post this. I didn't have the greatest day today at all. I slept in through my alarm for over an hour, and was late to help make pancakes at church. I felt sick all morning (at least I wasn't coughing much at all) and was pretty dead by the time I left the church. I headed over to my parents place and slept on the couch for a couple hours. I had planned on getting a few things done tonight, but that never happened. I helped my brother and Dad put together some IKEA furniture, and I promised my brother that I would hook up his internet before I left. I crimped one cable wrong and it took me 20 mins to find the problem. Then, even though he could connect to the router fine and my parent's computer could connect to the internet fine, his computer refused to access the internet. I spent what felt like an hour in a futile attempt to find the problem. I left at midnight and headed for home.

On the way, I pulled over. I used to get out of my car, sit on the back and check out the stars if I was coming home late after a bad day. It sort of helped put stuff into perspective. Of course, once I moved into Edmonton, it was harder to really see the stars at night. So tonight I pulled over and asked God to let me really see the stars because I needed it. When I got out and looked up I was disappointed. I could see the big dipper, but it wasn't that impressive. I was about to get really depressed when I flicker of light caught my eye. I looked north and observed the coolest Aurora Borealis that I've seen in a long time. It was colourful and dancing around wildly. I needed it. God is good.

I tried to take some pictures, but they had died down by this time and you can't really see them. But, the show was for me anyways.





Like I said, God is good.

My New Nephew!

Go straight to Steve's blog here to check out some pics of Von Charles Barker!

Birthday Blogging!

So I'm 21 now. It's sorta awesome. I can now do some cool stuff that I couldn't... well it doesn't open up any real doors here in Canada... but in the States... wow, it lets me... gamble and drink. Hm. Not that amazing. But hey, it's cool because I say it is. I guess I don't feel any more like an adult than I did yesterday. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. A birthday causes you to look back on your past year, and I think I have become more like an adult, but in a good way. Lots of things have happened in the past year that have tested and molded me, and I think I am a better person because of it. I have no idea what the next year will hold, but I am excited. Let me fill you in on a couple things.

I am going on a missions trip to Jamaica during Reading Week (Feb 16-25) with McKernan Baptist Church. I am SO excited! There are about 20 of us going consisting mostly of college and career age people, most of which I know well. We are going to be helping at a boys home, a girls home, an AIDS Hospice and doing a VBS for three days. I can't wait to hang out with some cool kids and share Jesus' love with them. Maybe they can teach me some cool dance moves to go with our worship songs or teach me how to play cricket. But, overall, I think you can describe my mood as ecstatic!

*** Here begins a weird section of this post that you can just skip

Hmm... there was something else I wanted to inform you about... really, I'm drawing a blank. Um, you could check out some of the new features on my blog in the side bar. Yeah, right over there to the right. I updated a couple things, and tied in my last.fm profile as well.

You're done already? I guess there wasn't that much new. Um, could I tempt you with promises that I really am going to update my template soon? You don't believe me? Yeah, I guess you may be right, this site has been under construction for a long time... I'm sorry alright! Oh, and I really will post that entry on Creation soon. I will be attending a Denis Lamoureux lecture on evolutionary creationism that I want to add to my blog entry as well. That thing will be horrendously long by the time I finish it...

*** Back to reality

Ok. I am now tired and I want to go to bed. First off, Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! Secondly, Lori, you failed to have Von on my birthday. I was hoping for the best; he might have continued some strange birthday tradition or something. I can't wait until he is here. And in third place, I am waiting in anticipation for the weekend and the Winter Retreat. It should be a good birthday week.

Shalom!

PS I tried to add a photo of "welts" from last year's retreat but it would not work. I guess you will just have to use your imaginations.

Two things...

... that I wanted to throw up here. If you are wondering how my trip to Detroit to surprise Steve and Lori went you can check out the last post on Mike's blog here (also has a link to the video of us doing the "surprising"). School is good so far, my parents and brother will be moving into the Sherwood Park house this weekend and I can't wait for the C&C Winter Retreat. As for those two things...

One: My very short article for The C&C Courier for those of you who will be unable to check it out (at least I think that is what it is called, I have yet to see it).

And you thought the Bible was serious…

I’ve heard people say that they imagine Jesus hung out with the disciples like everyone else, telling jokes, pulling pranks and laughing. I’ve heard people say that God has a sense of humour, just look at the Platypus. Sometimes these statements are followed by that person wondering why there are no jokes in the Bible itself. I would say the Bible has lots of humour, you just have to look for it. Take Jonah for example. When is the last time you read it? It’s really not that long, and really a great story. And yes, I realize that using “story” makes you think fiction, yet to me it loses nothing from that interpretation. But, I digress. Jonah is a book of incredible extremes. Jonah sleeps during a storm crazy enough to make the mariners throw their cargo overboard, Jonah lived in the belly of a fish for three days and nights, Jonah gets vomited up, everyone in Nineveh repented, from King to cattle, and Jonah proclaims he would rather die when he sees God display mercy. It is quite the list. I read it and think, Jonah, are you serious? He seems slightly melodramatic. I’m comforted that God still has mercy on us when we are crazy, irrational and completely stubborn. So, next time you read something that strikes you as funny in the Bible, don’t be afraid to laugh, I’m sure God will join you.

Two: Before Christmas I compiled a mix cd from a bunch of indie music that I downloaded. It is just some songs that I liked from artists that I (mostly) haven’t heard of before. Check it out; expand your musical horizons and all that. It got a rave review from a friend (six out of five solar panels on David Suzuki’s scale of awesomeness!).

Can You Say Indie? Volume 1

1. Loop Duplicate My Heart – Suburban Kids with Biblical Names
2. Nothing in My Way – Keane
3. Oh Lately it’s so Quiet ¬– OK Go
4. Ooh La – The Kooks
5. Rainbow in the Dark – Tilly & The Wall
6. Live and Learn – House of Fools
7. Hoppipolla (Acoustic) – We Are Scientists
8. Swisha – Ratatat
9. The Sun Goes Down on Manor Road – The Wonder Stuff
10. Thinking of You – Molly Jenson
11. Take a Chance – The Magic Numbers
12. Whistle for the Choir – The Fratellis
13. Continents and Constellations – Sleep The Season
14. Do it Again Again – The Tyde
15. Gravitys Rainbow – Klaxons
16. I Wish That I Could See You Soon – Herman Dune
17. Get Behind Me, Santa – Sufjan Stevens
18. Just Stay – Kevin Devine
19. Imaginary Girl – The Bees
20. Welcome Home, Son – Radical Face

If you don't have any moral qualms with acquiring music without paying for it then I could be persuaded to burn you a copy of it. Can You Say Indie? Volume 2 should be coming out soon as well... Oh, and I should mention that some songs require you to dance while listening to them. Don't worry, it doesn't have to be anything major, but they can only be fully enjoyed while moving your body to the music.

I'm back!

I just got back from my Christmas holidays with my brother and sister-in-law' place in Michigan. It was awesome. Mike and I totally surprised them and we had a great time hanging out in the following week. I will have to write a full blog entry on everything that conspired and hopefully get some video up so everyone can see what actually happened. But, I have lots of stuff to do today so I'll write that later. In the meantime, you can read this article I came across on digg through Steve. It tells you what happens to you when you drink a can of Coke. Luckily, I stick to my diet pop. I also found out that Diet Pepsi tastes great at 30,000 ft in First Class. But... more on that soon.

Have a Blessed Christmas Everyone and a Joyous New Year!

No Heaven

I've been writing a rather lengthy post about Creation and related stuff, but it's not ready yet. In the meantime, maybe you want to ponder this song with me. I've heard No Heaven by DJ Champion many times on SONiC and I have also heard some people voice their dislike for the song. It has quite the catchy tune and I dig the beat, but I think some people have misgivings about the lyrics. I wonder if there are lots of Christians out there who don't like this song. Well, I want to just go over exactly what I think this song is talking about and what it seems to resemble.

Here's the lyrics:

No Heaven - DJ Champion

Oh lord (oh lord)...

Oh boy well I've told you
Well I told you but I thought you'd know
There ain't no heaven
Oh lord, there ain't no heaven
There ain't no heaven
On the county road

Don't talk about it
Boy oh boy, don't talk about it
Don't talk about it
If you do, I'll cry
Don't come around me
Oh lord, don't come around me
Don't come around me
If you do, I'll die

Oh lord, there ain't no heaven
Oh lord, there ain't no heaven

Down at the station stood my dear old mother
Oh well she keep on, keep on screamin' and a cryin'
"Oh lord I wonder what my son has done"

Oh lord, there ain't no heaven
Oh lord, there ain't no heaven
Oh lord

Did you bring me, bring me any silver
He didn't bring me, bring me any gold
Oh did you see me, workin' on South Carolina
Just to see me work on the county road

Oh lord (oh lord), there ain't no heaven
Oh lord (oh lord), there ain't no heaven
(Oh lord, oh lord)

There ain't no heaven (there ain't no heaven)
(Oh lord, there ain't no heaven)
Oh lord (oh lord), there ain't no heaven.

I didn't get these lyrics straight from the song, I got them off the internet. I might change some of the punctuation if I was copying it down though (I did change some of the lyrics that were way off after listening to the song a bunch). Our speaker here is talking to a boy. If you remove the refrains and read it like a complaint to someone else, it seems to work well. You can then read the focus as being on the bad circumstances that this person has been through, rather than assuming she is discussing the fact that there is no heaven. The speaker is observing what is happening around her and sees tragedy. She can't even talk about some of it, she sees a mother lamenting over what her son has done, and she has been working on the county road for what seems to be no pay. The refrain of "oh lord, there ain't no heaven" then becomes a lament telling us that there is no justice in the world. It really reminds me of the lament psalms we have in the Bible.

Check out Psalm 88

O LORD, the God who saves me,
day and night I cry out before you.
May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of trouble
and my life draws near the grave.
I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man without strength.
I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off from your care.
You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.
Your wrath lies heavily upon me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

You have taken from me my closest friends
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
my eyes are dim with grief.
I call to you, O LORD, every day;
I spread out my hands to you.
Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do those who are dead rise up and praise you?

Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Destruction?
Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
But I cry to you for help, O LORD;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me
and hide your face from me?
From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death;
I have suffered your terrors and am in despair.
Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
All day long they surround me like a flood;
they have completely engulfed me.
You have taken my companions and loved ones from me;
the darkness is my closest friend.

I would say that Psalm 88 has the speaker beat if you are comparing problems. I think "No Heaven" can be read as directing the complaint towards God as well, but I guess that is where some may disagree with me. I enjoy the song, in fact I see more Christian discussion and overtones in it than most other music that I listen to. Remember guys and gals, theology is a discussion, and if you want to talk about God, you have to be willing to listen to what other people have to say. Even if that means listening to someone talk about how horrible God is. I mean, the Bible seems to have done that first. And really, I'm not just trying to "Christianify" a song that seems to be atheistic, I'm just trying to listen to the discussion.

Oh and make sure you send a comment my way. It's hard to have a discussion with yourself.

Click to make a difference

Came across this on digg. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is going to donate $1 to the National AIDS Fund in America for every person that clicks to light a candle (up to $100,000). I think my procrastination actually did something beneficial today.

https://www.lighttounite.org/

So now we have snow

It's surely cold out, but I still love it. My favourite part of fall has passed... the time when things are almost too cold outside for just a tshirt and hoodie, the leaves have all changed colours, the wind is blowing and you go for a long walk for the added benefit of coming home to a cup of hot coffee or tea to warm up. It makes me think of football. And other good things, but it always brings me back to my most favourite football memories. Playoffs always start in November; this time of the year reminds me of the feeling that all the hard work we did over the season is going to be tested. It is a feeling of apprehension and excitement. Sometimes I wish I had that feeling about school, I don't really think I ever have. Pity. Maybe I should try it someday... it might help in the motivation department. Now... if only I could devise a way to condition myself to associate that feeling with preparing for an exam or doing an essay or something like that. Any Psych majors care to help me out? I seem to have wandered down a rabbit trail here. Oh well, I don't mind if you follow my train of thought (or attempt to). Skip paragraphs or sentences at leisure. I'll just keep typing.

It seems to me that I have moments of deepest reflection when outside while the air feels cold. Well, that is if my memory serves me right. I guess that is one reason why I would never like to live in a place that was hot all the time. I could learn to be different, but there is something about just being cool and content. One thing that I miss most about Lac La Biche is the stars. I used to stop on the side of the road after being out late and sit on the back of my car, listening to music playing on the stereo inside and just look at the stars. You could actually see them there... unlike the orange that attempts to be a night sky here in Edmonton. I usually laid there for a while, cool and content, just being quiet. I miss those nights. And sometimes, when God was blessing us awesome people in the north, you could watch the Aurora Borealis. I have seen it here in Edmonton. It is like the difference between a trio of candles and a congregation of candles at a Christmas Eve service. Everyone should at least once travel north, as far as financially feasible, just to experience Northern Lights that are brighter than a full moon and that dance. Maybe something like this.

Yeah so, back to moments of reflection. I really could not explain why I feel like I have moments of deepest reflection while I am cold. Maybe I feel like God is closest when it is cold. I guess that means I will have more moments with God while driving Lindsay now (my car). Especially since moving to Sherwood Park will mean a half-hour commute to just about everywhere that I frequent right now. Ok... it is getting late and there were a few things that I wanted to tell you before I go so I need to get back on topic.

I watched Life is Beautiful today. And, let's face it, I cry every time I watch it. I teared up at the part where he talks over the loudspeaker to his wife, and I cried at the end of the movie. It didn't help that I watched it with my Mom who cried too. It always hits me how significant each person's life is when I watch that movie. It is the story of one life among the 10 million Jews that were killed during the Holocaust. And that story, of one life, evokes so much emotion. It gives me a very small picture of what I think God's love is like. To look at one life, to laugh and cry and care (albeit a very superficial way when you are watching a movie... but try to follow me here) so much, even when you just see a snippet of it, is huge. And what if God views my life like that. Laughing with me, crying with me, caring about me, loving me. And God takes it one step further, he gets involved and acts on his outpouring of love for me. Wow. I don't deserve it, yet God loves me. Go watch it again (or for the first time, it is a classic). Bring some Kleenex.

Now I'm going to sleep. I have started to fade and will give in to sleep. Sorry if you didn't get what you wanted in this blog entry. But, I make the rules here. Tangents are allowed and encouraged. I have had some interesting "news" in my life lately, but you'll just have to ask me about them... as I stated earlier, I'm going to sleep.

Your viewing habits revealed...

Just thought I would post a quick message to all you who visit this blog. It seems that 50% of you view this blog with Firefox. That's a whole 2% more than Internet Explorer. And in case you were wondering, the rest goes to Safari. So congrats Firefox! You truly are the better browser.

*****Update*****

I really am making a difference. Over 60% of you now use Firefox. I know that IE7 just came out, but Firefox 2 just came out. Firefox is much better and allows so many cool extensions that you just don't get in IE. For example, Firefox is checking my spelling as we speak. If I write "eachother" it puts a dotted line under the text so I can click it and change it to "each other." Look Mom! No more random spelling mistakes posted to forums or comments or blogs!

PS I use StatCounter.com to get this and other anonymous information from those you view this blog. If you don't want this or any other site to track you, just disable or reject the cookie it sends you.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's that time of the year again. Turkey naps and pumpkin pie, football games and windy weather, meeting family and that day when all of this happens at once. Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel like I should have a list or something with a bunch of things that I am thankful for this year. Now, it is hard to remember all the things that have happened over the year, so I will give a list that is more recent.

Things that I am thankful for since the start of summer:

• First and foremost, I am thankful that my brother is still here, and while the rollover left him a quadrepeligic, he is still Mike. God has shown me quite a few things since Mike had his accident, and I'm sure that it will continue to shape my view of this life. I love my brother.
• On that note, I'm thankful for my whole family. You guys rock. Please continue to rock when I move back in with you.
• I am thankful for Steve and Lori's baby on the way. God had his hand in that one, there is no doubt about it. (You have to say that last sentence with a Canadian accent, seeing as this is Canadian Thanksgiving.)
• I am also thankful that I am going to be the favourite uncle. (I could use any advice at how to achieve that cause it is going to be hard with Mike being able to give them a rides and having all the cool power toys...)
• I am thankful for Terri-Lynn. She is waaaay too good to me.
  
• I am thankful for being able to work at McKernan again this year. I grow so much because of that experience, I love it.
• I am thankful for good friends and always knowing I have a couch to crash on after a hard day if needed. (I am also thankful that I can still kick all their butts in Halo 2).
• I am thankful for my small group. They are an amazing group of Christians that have helped me grow spiritually and supported me when I needed it. I don't think I could have got through this past summer without you guys. Thanks a million.
• I am thankful for my expanding like of new and different music. Thanks SONiC and Mike.
• I am thankful for school. I know that it may sound weird, but I really enjoy the reading I do and the mind that my Liberal Arts education is giving me. It feels like I couldn't even think before I really got into this stuff. So a thanks has to go out to some of my profs too: Williams, T. Dubs (although I never call him that), Grentz, Joost, Wilson, Korner, Duquette and Fisher (the lessons I learn don't always come from the classroom). Thanks for sharing your love of the Bible, knowledge and life with me. Ok, so that last paragraph doesn't sound too weird there are a ton of things about school that I'm not that thankful for, but that doesn't mean I can't like a good portion of it.
• Lastly, and most importantly, I am thankful for my relationship with God. Without it I would be totally lost and a completely different person. It's all because of what He has done in me.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

-Psalm 30:11-12

Ok. I'm all done. Time to watch the football game. Go Esks! We need this one!

3...2...1...

It's HERE! I am finally going to begin blogging again, and this is the start. If you are like me and want to watch something that captures the elation that you are feeling right now, don't scour the internet cause you won't be able to find anything. Instead, watch the launch of some Missile to Mars.

Ok. Now down to business.

I really wanted to come back to blogging. I used to keep a blog on MSN Spaces but it fizzled when I stopped putting effort into it. I was more about trying to make it look cool and feel good when you checked it out so that people would check it out. I've changed a bit. The best times that I had blogging were times that discussion arose, opinions were given, and responses were written. In a way, I want to get back to that. Maybe no one will read this thing and I will end up having discussions with myself. If that happens I'll get really good at self-criticism I guess. The coolest thing that could happen would be you, my readers, and me having open discussions about all kinds of topics that provoke deeper thought. I want us to struggle with hard questions and strengthen each other.

I am a Christian. That fact is going to permeate everything I write. I have a unique history, a unique mind and a set of beliefs that makes me view the world in way that no one else can. Open discussion means being honest about where you are coming from so that you can get a better picture about who you are. Maybe none of that makes any sense. What I am trying to say is only I can be "me" and, following that, I can't be anyone else. My goal is discussion, and the only way that I can know your point of view is if you express it. So, do it!

One last thing. I want to explain the title of my blog. The old title of this blog was "Much about Matt," but I didn't really tell you much about me, so I scrapped that. Then, just recently, I gave my blog the working title of "Attempting to Lose it All." This comes from Matthew 16:25 where Jesus says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." That is a goal of mine, but I don't want to have a "lofty" goal define my life struggle. Everyone lives day by day not by momentous achievements. That's why I've finally settled on "Traversing the Path." Life is a journey and hopefully I can share some of my journey with you through this blog. And maybe, you can share some of yours with me too.