Check my
picasa for new pictures from Tokyo 2, the sequel.
Here's the links to my latest Japan Catholic News translations:
http://www.cbcj.catholic.jp/eng/jcn/sep2007.htm#14And here's today's R.i.th.M. update:
The globetrotter may see himself living in a bigger box than the homebody, but all other things being even, someone who has experienced a little in each of many places probably does not have a qualitatively greater experience than someone who has almost exhaustively experienced a single, small place in the world. A bigger box is better for someone who feels imprisoned, but there is always a bigger box, a wider realm of possibility.
A globetrotter doesn’t move around in a bigger box of experience and possibility than the homebody; the globetrotter is only taking his little box to more faraway places.
If she doesn’t do what I want her to do, that doesn’t mean she’s failed me. If it doesn’t do what I want it to do, it hasn’t necessarily failed me.
Theory and practice should not be unrelated/ Wisdom is by her fruits vindicated.
-Those who rightly, consistently believe in the best in humanity, especially in the humanity of strangers, will be inconsistently, unpredictably disappointed and frustrated by the irrational evil of some individuals.
Any particular experience cannot be unconnected to God, in Truth, in the mind, heart, and practical reality.
Think less; don’t overthink.
-Always ask for heaven, and take whatever good you’re given.
Basically, I want to die and go, immortal, to heaven, so my mortal life cannot really be about what I want because in this life, by definition, I cannot get it. God is the creator and Author: I must fulfill His purposes (for me particularly) before He gives me what I want.
That is the Deal. Whatever I do with my mortal life, it gains god nothing, really. So it is silly, unnecessary, inconsequential. As only God is ultimately, essential, I cannot logically expect anything more, really. Until heaven, consistent improvement is the best I can expect, and the more constant it is, the more I can expect the same to be coming, and to expect where it won’t be coming, as well, as consistency is a mark of goodness. Waiting for heaven, while facing “permanent” imperfection in this world, is tough, never really comfortable. And I guess, with heaven as my true home, mortal discomfort is as it should be. If from now on I will see heaven and hear God so clearly, when will I come to grips with this nagging imperfection, the time and distance between?
Hot Black Dress
I see your hot black dress.
Who are you tryin’ to impress?
The summer sun, I guess,
Must make you hot; confess
In that hot black dress.
Bring me that hot black dress
I know you came to impress
The packed dance floor, I guess,
Must make you hot; confess
In that hot black dress.
You see my hot black dress?
Come on, try not to obsess.
My little dance, I guess,
Must make you hot; confess!
In my hot black dress
Keep around that hot black dress
You know clothes make the man stress.
And you can do no less
In that hot black dress.
Keep it hot, hot,
Hot black dress.
It is never just one small thing that makes a big complex decision.
Let your heart’s deepest desire be your guide in searching for your future spouse, since we each get only one (at a time) we owe it to each other the time and energy to eliminate the multitude who wouldn’t make a great match, and later, eliminate even the small group who would make a great match, fore the sake of the one who will make the greatest match.
My Heart is a Breakable Promise
My heart is a breakable promise
I can’t keep to myself.
My heart is a breakable promise.
I gotta be honest
To someone else,
With someone other than myself.
Oh, my heart is a breakable promise
I keep it still,
But I want you to take it
And break it
Like I know you will,
Like I know you set my blood on fire.
I burn for you.
I learned for you
How to relieve my mind
Leave the logic behind
And go down in flames.
My heart is a breakable promise
That speaks no names,
Like a comet’s flare.
I make a wish on it nightly,
So brightly,
When the darkness is still.
If it ever comes true
From the heavens for you
Then how could I miss it?
If this is it,
Then it really is you!
Like space rock gathers stardust,
I know I must
Bring down something for you.
If I gotta break like a rocket
Thrown ‘round the sun,
Then I want all my stardust
I harvest
To give you at least one good show
Before I’m done.
Before I’m done, you gotta know:
My heart is a breakable promise.
Life is Very Long
Not all that leaves is gone;
That which does not end, goes on.
Life is very long.
I would like to see the future more clearly, to be able to deal with the bad, particularly the evil, in a better way. But, if I knew that someone would choose evil, then I would not be able to give her a fair, hopeful, real chance. Without an honest opportunity to do good, faced with the expectation of an evil outcome, we would face the possibility of criminals without crimes, and predestination opposed to free will. Also, allowing evil, to show that even it cannot so much affect the truly good, and thwarting evil with the bare minimum (of the past and present, for example), is amazing, the stuff of stories.
Be wary of wanting to do more or better than the average person. You may start to assume that you can do more, that in some way you are better than the average person, better than most people special and superior. You are not better than the average person, just different than the next individual, with the good and evil of actions making the only difference.
The test of life measures the limit of the good one can do. It doesn’t matter how small or big that measure is, as long as you reach yours. Once you reach your limit, you see further, to the good things you are not able to do. Frustration at such a point is a sign that the good is accomplished, at least for that moment.
He who has never been seriously frustrated has never closely reached the limit of the good he can do; he clearly must go further. He who as seen the limit of his ability and is frustrated should be rewarded (and frequently is) with more potential and more work to do. I suppose that at other times, he is rewarded with contentment, a break.
I do not think you know who I am, but that that is OK because I do.
-What is the fire that does not burn? A metaphor! What is the thing that does not exist? Void! What is the soul that does not choose? If it does not choose, it is not a soul; if it is a soul, it chooses.
Maelstrom’s Theme (from the Legend of the Elementals)
The first lonely drops of rain
Might be the
Last lonely drops of rain
In the storm
To wash it all away,
To wash it all away.
The first lonely drops of rain
Might be the
Last lonely drops of rain
That you drink,
Knowing no more than what you think,
Knowing no more than what you think.
The first lonely drops of blood
Might be the
Last lonely drops of blood
That you give.
Die so as to live.
Die so as to live.
The last lonely drops of blood
Might be the
First lonely drops of blood
That you spill.
Live so as to kill.
Live so as to kill. (Do what you will.)
To drain it all away.
To drain it all away.
