Sudden Rush of Heart Shivers

So a colleague had a sudden eRun-in with an old romantic
acquaintance. His story tugged at my heart strings in such a way that
my own heart began to ache for at least some kind of resolution with
the rare panda.

As he recounted the events of his own story, the syllables
surrounding the feelings beat at my memory like a piñata. The
confetti of torn love notes fluttered down and I saw the wish in my
own heart.

isral information.

isral information.Well, for all their crappy signals lately, at least Cingular doesn't cripple Bluetooth.

Geistlich Auslander

I figured it out tonight. Sure, I began by wondering why such a
simple statement would provoke such a cold start, why the doors to
social circles are always just the wrong shape for my frame. Even
learning the vernacular doesn't really help because the grammatical
structures of my language aren't of this province, of this world
even. I am a stranger in a strange land.

In his novel, "Stranger in a Strange Land," Robert Heinlein places
Valentine Michael Smith, a human born in another world, unexpectedly
on Earth. This man looks like other people, eats the same food,
breathes the same air but his thoughts are not their thoughts, his
statements employ thier nouns and verbs, but his grammar is of
another mind.

You see, Tom, Caesar, I think I have been trying to be Valentine,
aching for the world he never quite fit into to love him. If I were
of this world they would love me. Yet, my citizenship is of another
place.

I feel that I have actually been trying to have my feet in two places
at once. I think I have been trying to get the world to love me. And
the funny thing is that I have been in training for such alienation
all of my life. Maybe it's not just Louisiana, maybe it's only the
beginning of what would come in any place through which I commute.
But I guess in saying this I declare my desire for a homeland.

My focus must be to serve Christ in concern for the world, not having
the world love me for my service to Christ. They, and lately a she
too, actually ostracize me for Christ's name, as He said they would.
I think of the way people make quips like "Still doing the Christian
thing?" or "Well, Isral, you're misunderstanding because you speak
Godtalk." or "Oh, yeah, you're religious." or "You can't adapt
because you're an Absolutist." or even "Don't talk to me about Jesus."

I always miss the obvious hints. Or, as some say, I never listen. I
only hear what I want.

I am here because of Christ's love for the world, and my mission in
His love for the world.

So now I have to reorient my heart... again....

Aperture

I realized something in the darkroom. The beauty, the maturity of a photograph in the developing process depends on light at each step.

The camera must have the optimal aperture setting much like our minds. The shutter speed is how quickly we react to the light: quickly in bright circumstances in obedience, or slowly in th elow light of anger and/or malice towards us. The film setting, the film speed, is how sensitive our hearts are to the light that comes in.

Then, even after the exposure, the negative must be exposed to more light to make a positive image. First, a full open aperture on the enlarger to get the focus right, making the details come through sharply, then a dimmer setting to allow the print to bask in a continual, but not overbearing light stream, which matures the precious silver. Dip the paper, our hearts, into the developer, which is the discipleship of an older believer or spiritual mentor, bringing the exposed surface to fullness. The fixer, the chemical which solidifies the print is the Holy Spirit, preventing the image from darkening once it's been removed from the developer.

Now it's ready to be hung on the gallery of a wedding feast. A portrait of the future.

Phenomes & Phonemes

Language and genetics are similar. They each instruct processes and signal the indentity of the entity using them. Phenomes are the genetically-encoded characteristics of how an organism will look, behave, etc. Phonemes are the individual units of spoken languages and these are the characteristic building blocks of how a language will sound, behave, etc. Communication in each these systems is inherently the same, with contextual differences. Such correspondence across parallel neighbors speaks of a Design, and thus a Designer. Maybe it's Deisign. -isral

Do Unto Others...

So, Heath, i just had to do one for you. i did have a little fun too! :) i was aiming at making a caricature of you, with a nod to your style. Hope you likey.