some quick thoughts

a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down

is it wrong to be idealistic? is it too ideal? is it ok to be idealistic?

it seems big things like the sky and the ocean tend to calm people down.

money tends to dilute the motivation of many things. such as music, service, business, etc.

love is a necessity of life.

first step of growing up is to see outside of yourself. being able to use your mind to experience the needs of others over yours.

integrity is hot.

fruits of the spirit Galations 5:22-23.

how does one go about changing the world with idealistic motives? or even just changing the world at all?

emotion hinders and empowers. one needs to learn how to control such a powerful impetus.

My Quotes(?)

A man is not defined by age, but rather by his character.

Knowledge of purpose and the skill of control of ones body and mind are keys to mastering any skill.

to be continued?...

I got a question for you.

How do you begin to take down an illegal and immoral international organization that has infected such a large part of the world?

Human trafficking. We can kill everyone involved but that would take forever and probably take away a good quarter of the earth's population. How do we do it peacefully? Is there a way to go about it? The movie TAKEN enlightens the viewer of the viral organization that is human trafficking and exposes the horrors and simply grotesque features of the monstrosity. It is natural that one begins to think if there is anyway to cure or treat this earthly virus more fearsome than the HIV virus to which we are so accustomed. The earth cries in agony as this virus still spreads as strongly as ever, it pleads for an antidote to such powerful poison that eats away at its inhabitants that it so loves. What can we, the people who abhorr such gruesome actions contribute to the much needed cure or at least treatment of this matter? Have we even concerned ourselves with such an illness that is common knowledge? I for one do not know of such a movement except for Call and Response that our church contributed to this past year. However, it was hard to get involved emotionally and mentally to a topic that was hard to emphatize with. But I digress.

I honestly do not know where or how to begin. Do you have an idea?

Born to Run

BORN TO RUN by Christopher McDougall is an amazing book! You should all go read it! We are all born to run and it explains the reasons behind such an awesome conclusion!

Go look for some reviews. I can't write one yet, almost done though.

Imagination

I feel that my imagination isn't what it used to be back when I was a kid.

I was watching some Japanese Animated movies and was awed by the philisophical and creative aspects that were cleverly intertwined and explained in subtle tones throughout the movie. I realize that as I have grown older, I have begun to appreciate and see the hard work and thinking processes required to create and sculpt such works of art and creativity. The movies then got me thinking, "What is it about the Japanese, or even the respective artists, that allow them to dwell in such landscapes of thought and creativity to build such things of art?"

I noticed that the Japanese movies that I have seen have a lot to do with spirituality and came to compare with the American movies that lack that kind of spirituality. I may be the only one but I appreciate the emphasis on the spirituality of all things that I have seen in these movies. I should also point out that the movies that I talk about are movies from the Ghibli Studio and to just mention, the Evangelion Movie that was heavily soaked in religion and philosophy. These movies may be heavy for some but as Jesus talks about quite often, I feel that I am becoming more adept at noticing the message under all the metaphors and parables in some things. As people say, "practice makes perfect" and these movies help a lot.

Movies are made for entertainment but they have the curious power to influence and teach. Thinking through the movies, I notice how the creators and writers of the movies emphasize some aspect of society or even the importance of nature and the harmony we must live with it. Then I realize the power and ability of the creator to influence the thinking of the viewers, to point out the good and bad people, and even direct the audience's sense of wrong and right. It's a big responsiblity and power to have such an ability with just 1.5-2 hours of someone's time.

I wonder where my imagination went? Is it because my imagination was surpressed by the practical and physical needs of this culture and society? Was I taught to leave my imagination behind and live in this reality that supresses such a gift? Some say that the imagination is the key to the future survival of this world and that it is the means of paving the road to such a future. But I feel that this generation may lack in that power and tool to harness such a destiny. I, for one feel the lack of imagination that I have in my life. I really do wonder what happened to it.

Pastor Seth says that we, as Christians, should be as creative, if not, more creative than such artists and masters of the art. But where has that all gone? What are we so focused on that such creativity has been surpressed? I honestly forgot the reason as to why he said such a statement, so can anyone remind me?

So where has our creativity and imagination gone? I'm still looking for mine. I hope I haven't lost it completely! Where is yours?

P.S. Even in classical music...Why can't composers today create masterpieces on par with the masters of the past?

Teaching...

...requires a lot of patience and love.

Basically the fruits of the Spirit!
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. We say those every morning with the kids. It's fun, since I'm teaching 8th graders and I'm the only fool yelling out SELF-CONTROL when my grade is called ;). It's ok though, I got a sticker for my grade. Waking up early tomorrow again! I gotta learn how to sleep earlier...

I feel I got a bit more patience through just the past week. But I can't say for sure, so I guess I'll just keep on trucking. I hope everyone else is having a great summer too! We're going bowling this Friday!

Relapse

Apologies to all that prayed for me on this thermo test. I take all the blame. I relapsed into lazyness and stupidity and I beg for forgiveness for my failure to keep myself in check. I ask for forgiveness to my God as well, He has provided for me in many more ways than possible and I pull this one out of my arse. Well the final is still coming and rest assured, I have found my head again and have screwed it on tightly and glued it with superglue that I may never loose it again. God willing the glue will hold for longer than just this spring semester.

Forgive me. I fail a lot.