Destinations.

There is a good amount of time thinking about them and the key difference is the focus on trying. This means sending that email, saying that thought, making the overture. Don't forget the importance of small words or even a glance. Make it happen. Always extend yourself.

Redemption.

It would make sense that I have thoughts on this, maybe a little more than most. There comes a point where you finally forgive yourself and you let go of what could restrain you or cause you caution. It is not as though you forget, or ever will. You proceed and you focus.

If there is one thing I want to give, it is a notion that all is indeed possible. That secured by what we wish to leave behind, no matter how complicated or simple, even elegant, we can achieve those things. No matter what.

Our love guides us. Our selflessness rewards us. Our faith protects us. Our ideals inspire us.

Random.

How many govern our moments? It is not as though situations make us look at things in new ways, it is more an aspect of what we decide to focus on. How do we know when something is to inspire us, to sustain? And is even thinking about things in this way fair? Because what have we known to be this way? It seems so much easier to look at from the context of all those things we have heard about or learned about. But for ourselves. . . What is certain is that we must pursue our thoughts, no matter how confusing. Otherwise, it is boring and who wants that?.

Places left to go.

Not just those places I think about or visit.

Fatherly wisdom.

EM:"I think there is a problem with my car and I don't want to put the money into fixing it."
EMSR:"That is what happens when you buy expensive cars, they are expensive to fix."
EM:"Thanks dad."

Elegance and choices.

Sometimes you can overlook something or the way past events have altered course; this results in you mistaking the simplicity and elegance of what is in front of you.

Jack Daniels, Unplanned trips & Jack Keurouac.

Every man needs a vice or three.


"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

Mornings.

Sometimes they are slow, but those routines are what makes it, whether in real-time or in reflection.

Unexpected moments.

Sometimes you just aren't really there. You are having a conversation, you are listening, but you are just not there. You are waiting for something to happen or you are thinking about how to make something happen. You are contemplating how to make that next step occur. And then it does. There is a second to adjust, a second to reflect. But it has happened and you are surprised.

You think about it. Even when the moment is gone, you think about how to get back there. You start to wonder and dream. Is it all possible? Indeed limits do not apply?

Finding those meanings, is not always easy. What makes it so hard? Maybe it is english, our double meanings, our nuiance, our metaphors?

Lead time.

How much lead time do you need to complete projects? Sometimes, I just can't get engaged. I get distracted. I blame it on email, IM, cell phones and everything that distracts. But, when I get on a roll, there is no stopping me.

On religion

I think it is very difficult for people to digest Catholic beliefs. On many levels I can understand this and as for most things, I think this is rooted in a misunderstanding of what these teachings mean for Catholics.

There are many views of the Church that are difficult to digest, particularly in the context of a modern world. The question becomes for me, not so much who is right or wrong, but what is the nature of religion and its teachings? It almost becomes a very simple question: what is the point?

I have included in my blog some words on this, not my own, but of the Pope and from the Bible. For me, the nature of the answers is one focused on perspective. My perspectives are derived from faith. The Oxford English Dictionary defines faith as trust and confidence, to believe implicitly.

What is the point? To aspire towards ideals. To live our lives in a nature that exposes and emphasizes the best parts of who we are. To love unconditionally, to be compassionate, to forgive, no matter what. To improve and to challange ourselves.

Can we do this without faith? Can we do this without structured beliefs? Perhaps. But as I reflect on the secular world in which we live, I question this. It is not that I am transfixed on harshly examining the world; I believe there is a lot of beauty in a what we have and I cherish it. But I do not accept things as they are. I question our choices and I believe things could be much better if we focused more on our ideals. Do you?

Underdogs.

Did you catch the Kentucky Derby yesterday? I have to admit it, this is the first time in my entire life that I watched this event live. It does look like good fun and I enjoyed the shots of women in hats and sourthern gentlemen equally dressed (sans hats).

So this horse that won, what was his name? Who cares. A cheer for the underdog!

Change.

Doesn't mean that we have to be held back. Restrained by circumstance or triumph or disappointment. Adapt. Grow. Reach out.

We are confronted with these thoughts over and over again, but we fail to embrace change. Why? Why is it required that we take such a simple or obvious path?

It is not a good thing to allow ourselves to be governed by pettiness, but think about all the unspoken apologies. The regret. As much allowances as we must make for others, the realization and desire for change must come from that person. Think different?

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.