Quotes.

SC: "Ed, do you like house music?" EM: "Does it look like I like house music?"

Love: 1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

HABEMVS PAPAM, BENEDICTVM XVI

"Religion is a theocracy, not a democracy". Author Unknown.

Truth.

"How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking... The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (Eph 4, 14). Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching', looks like the only attitude (acceptable) to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."

"However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an 'Adult' means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth. We must become mature in this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - which creates unity and takes form in love. On this theme, Saint Paul offers us some beautiful words - in contrast to the continual ups and downs of those were are like infants, tossed about by the waves: (he says) make truth in love, as the basic formula of Christian existence. In Christ, truth and love coincide. To the extent that we draw near to Christ, in our own life, truth and love merge. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like 'a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal' (1 Cor 13,1)."

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Dean of The College of Cardinals.

Chance

Determinism has never been one of my things. I have always held the belief we controlled our destiny and to this point, it is our responsibility to proceed without caution. I know sometimes circumstance gets the better of us, we say no when we should say yes; we have all been there. I try to take more time as I get older to appreciate things I may have overlooked before. And its hardly because I think time is running away, it is more because I prefer to look forward to what is in front of me, actively, not in reflection. When I think about this, I think about the 'chance' of the friends I have and all the ways they support me, when best and when worse. Maybe it isn't chance after all, but more an opportunity. Thanks.

Spring.

The smell and warmth of the air. Rebirth.

Evolution.

There are some classics that you cannot avoid. Even as time goes on, they still hold special meaning in the context of something that was once valuable. What am I talking about? Well, I just don't want to say at this point, so you have to put it together.

Wrong Number.

over the last 2 days, i have received 4 phone calls from a gentleman looking for a 'josephine'. each time i have informed him that there was no 'josephine' at my number and that he had the wrong number. this leads me to believe that perhaps he met this 'josephine' out on the town, she gave him a number and either 1. he/she wrote it down incorrectly or 2. she gave him an incorrect number on purpose. should this be the latter, let this be a lesson. do not do this! it is cruel. poor guy, he sounded very nice to me.

Walks.

"am i drunk, or maybe i am dreaming, i ought to be screaming he suddenly - everything today is thoroughly - just like that, without any warning, at two in the morning, he suddenly - everything today is thoroughly - were there signs, and i didn't see them? a random remark, occasional sigh, that day in the park, the gleam in his eye. . ." mille, from song: jimmy, thoroughly modern millie. central park. boston common. hyde park. where is your favorite walk? what i love about the ipod is that it puts a soundtrack to our walks. a theme. our minds drift and we begin to think. maybe about the future. or the past. things we have done, things we did not do.

Determination.

Tiger Woods won his 4th Masters yesterday. It has been 3 years since he won a major and his victory is confirmation that at 29, we still have a lot left to see in this champion. What was incrediable about this victory was that despite having a poor start, Tiger roared back in the later rounds and was able to come into Sunday morning with a lead over determined play by play Chris Dimarco (coming into sunday, both players were below 10 strokes under par, ahead of the rest of the field by at least 4 strokes). Tiger slipped on the last 2 holes of the tournament, which allowed Dimarco to force a playoff. In the playoff, Tiger was perfect, nailing a difficult 20 foot put (it looked that far and looked very hard). I give a lot of respect to Dimarco's play, but Tiger was too much. Tiger is a determined champion and despite the critisism about him changing his swing after having the dominating 2001-2002 years (if it ain't broke, why fix it?) in winning back to back majors, despite the critisism about distractions, despite the critisism of losing the number 1 ranking, Tiger remained determined to his ability and his Master's victory is clear indication of his talent and potential; both as a player and a person. Tiger's father was unable to attend the last day of the tournament as he is not had a good year healthwise. Tiger dedicated this victory to his father. My thoughts are with his family and I hope that in a small way, Tiger's grace as winner, compassion as a son and determination as a champion, can serve to inspire us in our own ambitions.

Courage.

Was thinking about Dan Rather this morning. His prefered way of ending his pieces was by saying, "Courage". The context of this is unbound (the courage to fight for your country, the courage in saving others without regard for self, the courage to do something that someone else has not tried, the courage to bring a child into this world, the courage to stand for something you believe, the courage to overcome a defeat, .....fill in the blanks), indeed a reminder of boldness. Like may ideals, something to move towards. Dan Rather was really abused over the mistakes made over the false documents in relation to President Bush's time in the National Guard. On one hand, the mistake was major and Rather did deserve the responsibility as lead reporter. What bothers me is that seems to be his ending note legacy, with major newspapers and public discussion focused on this. What of redemption? What of the acomplishments in his career? Timing can sometimes swipe us the wrong way. Whther you think Rather was over-rated, a biased liberal, whatever your critisisms, he had something. Why? Because he took chances. He pushed the envelope. He extended the debate. He made us think and he gave us a glimpse of the world, from his eyes and he inspired - Courage. Courage indeed. Dan Rather is by no means gone, 60 minutes perhaps will be his redemption. I hope so.

Pope John Paul II, The Great

One of the greatest figures of the 20th Century, powerful role model and leader of the 21st, passed away today after a 26 year pontificate. The Holy See. Joannes Paulus PP. II, requiescat in pace.

Contradiction.

Emerson said it best: "Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day." I have always liked this and it has a lot to do with my tendency at contradiction. It is ok, because what fun would it be if we didn't change our mind? However, there is something to be said of a steadfast mind . . .

Listening

I have a hard time with it, I think we all do. Wouldn't it be great if we could keep transcripts of all our conversations? Hold that thought! Let me refer to my notes!

Limits.

Why limit ourselves to the confines of expectations? Of the paths that others say we must follow to accomplish our objectives. Of what society, our friends, schools, colleagues say must be done to get there. We don't, but we allow ourselves to be confined by these limits. Don't do this. We can achieve our ambitions. We can overcome any obstacle. And even if we are defeated again and again, we strive because these limits are not really that. They are noise to distract us.

On Forgiveness

When thinking about recent history, there have been several moments over the last several years where leaders of national prominence have been humbled by apologies for mistakes. When thinking about these events and reflecting on last night's rebuke of the President of one of the leading academic institutions in the world, what saddens me is how apologies and forgiveness seems to be sentiments that the media and the public have a hard time accepting. People make mistakes, ranging from minor to major, but often the message we see expressed is one of dismissal by peers and by the media's desire to fuel moments of contention. I do not condone or excuse the mistakes of public figures that go too far with their statements or betray trust by personal indiscretions, but given situations where we are asked to forgive, I think this is best. Often, when we find someone in a moment where such apology is warrented and expected, we bring up everything that we don't like about that person and confuse the issue into being something bigger than it is. This snowball causes a confusion of the heart of this issue and the message becomes one bred on negativity. Without acceptance of intentions (the desire to move on, learn and grow), the situations where we ask and expect understanding; failing this, evryone loses.

Talk shows, revisted.

I have received some flack for my previous feedback on morning talk shows. Listen, I enjoy them, this is why I spend a little bit of time flipping through the channels to see what is on. But sometimes, you just hear something you don't agree with and you just want to write it down. My words may be terse to the subject, but the medium I still find worthwhile. But let's be honest -- nothing beats Morning Edition.

Talk show advice, the good, the bad and the in-between: Office Romance

These thoughts are not for those who have been successful in inter-office romances, it is for the rest of us that have tried and failed. Enter morning talk shows; was watching "Today" this morning. Psychologist Dr. Gail Saltz is suggesting "the rules" for dating in the workplace, my point is there are a million places and ways to meet people, why should the workplace by a place by which we suggest to meet others? Can't we have some limits and boundaries to the way we live? Dr. Saltz's breakdown was on the "do's" and "don'ts". I say that relationships in the workplace serve to breakdown the professionalism and the decorum that is necessary in business and are usually not a good idea for many obvious reasons. Now I hardly want to criticize and put down the many people that have found their loves in such settings, I guess what I am saying is that I wish the message being downloaded on this morning's national television would be that we should have some boundaries in our lives. If you want to date, meet someone outside the office. The complication of dating someone you work with doesn't need my description.

Social Cycles

How much do twenty/thirty - somethings spend (in time, money and energy) on going out with friends, getting a few drinks, dancing, getting a few more drinks, getting a quick bite when going home and somewhere between the ride home to the next morning, wondering why we just did all of that. Now, this is not one of those Sunday mornings for me, but I was thinking about it because I just got off the phone with one of my friends who downloaded this thought process to me. I have had the thought myself many times, yet I find myself occasionally slipping into this pattern. Now, the urban social dweller would argue that these things are a part of socialization and my rants to the contrary or dismissing these efforts as a waste of time are somehow representative of a developing conservatism. I would say not so, that perhaps we need be a little more creative in our social outlets and that too much emphasis is placed on the city "bar" scene as a focus of our means of meeting and interaction with new people, friends and the like. Now, to everyone out there that follows moderation, these thoughts are not applicable to you, for we all need our vices, but as someone that does not prescribe well to such a "balanced" approach, I say to all those that can hear what I am talking about and find themselves in a pattern, how about something new? Ideas? I will leave that to you.

Oscar Fallout, revisited

I have to admit it, I didn't want to like it. Yes, I was impressed with the reviews and the cast, but inside I wanted to dismiss this movie. Why? Because I had an image of a movie presented with manufactured sentiment, a movie made to be "profound" or "emotional". I was wrong. This movie has very careful and powerful acting, the simple score works well and the movie's messages regarding redemption, forgiveness, reconcilliation, triumph, adversity, loss and love are moving. I believe we learn the most by observing the difficulties others endure.