The Clouds Are Getting Ominous - Pray about this please

Joshua3:5And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves [that is, separate yourselves for a special holy purpose], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

    6Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass over before the people. And they took it up and went on before the people.

    7The Lord said to Joshua, This day I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, so they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

    8You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.

 ^{Malachai 3:7}Even from the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, How shall we return?

    ⁸Will a man rob or defraud God? Yet you rob and defraud Me. But you say, In what way do we rob or defraud You? [You have withheld your] tithes and offerings.

    ⁹You are cursed with the curse, for you are robbing Me, even this whole nation.^(C)

    ¹⁰Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.^(D)

    ¹¹And I will rebuke the devourer [insects and plagues] for your sakes and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine drop its fruit before the time in the field, says the Lord of hosts.

    ¹²And all nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Matthew 9:17

Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved. 

Mark 2:22

And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the bottles destroyed; but new wine is to be put in new (fresh) wineskins. 

Luke 5:37-38

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the fresh wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled and the skins will be ruined (destroyed). But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. 

Ezekiel 11:19

And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God]

Ezek 18:31; 36:26; II Cor 3:3

I am blessed in the storm

in the calm

in the everyday

My marriage is blessed and ordained by God

I must fight for it

I will be down

It's God holding me down

He's going to give me new skin

new legs

a new heart

a new body

I will be raised up with Sherry

Who will be my Philip? (who explained the scriptures to the Eunuch)

The Clouds Are Getting Ominous, So Very Ominous

But I won't get back on the bus.  I'm starting to sense hints, even while writing this down.  

Evelyn

I love my family.  Even if many of them won't be able to come to my wedding in two months, I will see lots of them over the next couple of days, except one.  

I was driving to work this morning and thought of her and started crying.  I was in the middle of bawling my eyes out, when I suddenly pictured my face and burst out laughing because Sherry doesn't believe me that I can 'sob' (even though she's been right beside me) as it appears very reserved, as far as crying goes I suppose.  My face gets all scrunched up and my eyes burn and fill up with water and it gets hard to breathe.  But I haven't sobbed yet, just moments of crying here and there - it will come.  

Later on in the morning my Mom called to tell me that she'd passed away.  I'd lost my grandmother.  

This won't be the post to remember her.  I want to wait until I get home.  Perhaps Wednesday afternoon before JLYS.  

Right now I'm enjoying the memory of her face.  Her easy smile.  Her beautiful laugh.  Her troubled, "ohh." - almost more of a question.  

I want to go be with family.  I hope we get to hang around in living rooms and popcorn stories.  That's far more appealing than ceremonies.  

I'm grateful.  For a number of things.  I had very much wanted to write my grandparents a letter to send along with our wedding invitations, but the time came and life was hectic, and I deferred to - oh I can just send them a separate letter later.  It's very sad that I can't write them 

that letter.  I don't feel pained about it though.  I started singing at work, quite randomly - correction - quite led by the Holy Spirit (which has happened several times today and is in fact one of the 'number of things'), and cried:

"Sing a song of celebration

Lift up a shout of praise 

For the bridegroom will come, the glorious one

And oh, we will look on his face

We'll go to a much better place

Dance will all your might

Lift up your hands and clap for joy

For the time's drawing near, when he will appear

And oh we will stand by his side

A strong pure spotless bride

Oh we will dance on the streets that are golden

The glorious bride and the great song of man

From every tongue and tribe and nation will join

In the song of of the lamb"

Just last week I was pondering the scripture, "In my Father's house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2)  The word mansions.  I think as a child the idea was that God is building you your mansion.  That's ridiculous.  You know what mansions are for?  Lots of people together.  It delighted me, as I am living in a community house and it thrills me.  And some day, in heaven, I will wash dishes with Chasey for her and she'll be pleased and help us put things away and sing a little and tell us stories about how she picked up tangelos at the market.  She won't mind that I didn't get her that last letter, because we have all eternity to chat and joke, garden and cook, and sneak smiles with Jesus at all the moments treasured.  

A Rare Condition

I've wanted to say this for a few weeks now, and now I wonder as to what it means.

I think that I'm satisfied in life right now.  It's hard to say that when there are so many loose ends and more unresolved issues than I'm probably even aware of.  There are of course many uncertainties about even the near future and its arrangements.  People continue to ask me questions and bring up topics that remind me of what a fragile thing security is.  

Yet I dare say that I enjoy my life.  In contrast to so many other periods, I'm not fighting with confusion.  I'm not 'doing my time' waiting for, well for life to begin.  I'm already alive, and still believe the words that life is not a tragedy.  And I, I am not a tragedy; not the sum of a variety of failures, incompletes, lates, inabilities, absences, indiscretions, and disappointments.  No.  I am loved by God.  And he's contagious.  It starts sticking, and shifting, and spinning out.  

So pick 3 things Nolan...

Pick 3 things that you like about yourself - the evidence - with 3 instances.

And I don't want to.  

God reminded me of something he said, which I didn't want to use because it doesn't seem very glamourous - it's not very servantish, rather self-concerned really.  But all that aside,

I am a lover of music.

People frequently comment (Ryan did on Thursday and Friday) that I am always grooving/moving to the music (whether it's there externally or not).  It's true.  Very Calvin & Hobbesish but I love it, and it gets inside me.  

Pursuant/Resolutionizer (leads you to think of it clearer than Resolver)

I don't leave things to themselves.  I'll go after them; confront them.  

[Actually I'm fading - too much writing & thinking - I'm just staring now - I've lost my train of thought and motivation - ironic huh?]

Sentimental Income Tax Break

Well so far the worst day of the year hasn't been so bad.  I slept in, had weird dreams, ate 3 bowls of cereal and listened to Travis (the band) while beginning sorting through my filing.  For quite a while it has mildly irked me that my filing drawer is ridiculously over-stuffed.  Today I started pulling out all kinds of files and folders that don't need to be kept anymore, such as my pay stubs from 1998.  Actually I had a strange reaction to throwing those away - just the look of the paper brought back smells and sounds; faces and feelings.  

And I pulled out the letters folder.  I think I stopped putting more in after awhile because it was so full, yet this morning/afternoon I decided to read through them...  

I always like a good dose of nostalgia so I don't even feel guilty about how much time has been spent without even highlighting gst values on receipts.  

I had most, if not all, of Natalie's notes and letters in there.  That was wild to read through.  It's incredible how much writing can capture a person or a time.  I've changed so much in the last seven years and it was stimulating to revisit the past.  

Wow, what a time high school was.  I was constantly tired and under pressure.  I remember begging my Mom on a weekly basis if I could take even a short holiday from life - maybe a month or so but preferably a semester and then come back again.  I was working part time, doing unending homework, hanging out with friends and dating.  Very intriguing to look back at her letters and gain so many clues about what my letters probably contained.  I was deeply introspective, philosophical, reflective - always digging, as opposed to Natalie's notes which were so fun and full of the moment, almost frantic with dreams that were probably fulfilled later but treated like they should happen now.  She along with so many others challenged and sharpened and enlivened me, and got me into lots of trouble I probably didn't mind.  

I just switched settings and songs on my itunes which reminded me of my newest trivial and daunting mission:  I want to rip all of my music with FLAC or some other lossless encoder (and detailedly categorize it all and develop advanced smart playlists), and collect lots of fun hits to be used for the wedding, and really I'm starving for new music but realize that I can't really afford the time or money to go searching for something I will really appreciate - not that I have time for that other trivial mission - and I have large doubts as to whether it will be fulfilled.  

OK back to something I want to write about:

I had several letters from Beth too which were cool but self-fulfilled with these words:

"Boys are only scary in that to invest in a guy is to risk a part of me.  Girls are essentially emotional and the sharing of anything emotional is to give a part of herself.  I feel confident with you because a lot of our talk is spiritual or intellectual, and because you've had a serious girlfriend in the course of our friendship and it didn't change too much.  But most friendships with guys will probably change or die as they get married and we drift apart, so whatever part of me I've given them will go.  And I'll have that much less to give the man I marry.  Maybe it'll mean very little to him, but what goes on within is vital to me."

I met Beth at a River Roots (may long weekend camp) in high school and kept in touch by letter for years (actually, it might have started as a swap emails or whatever and pray for someone, which is exactly what we did).  We had such surprisingly strikingly different views and beliefs and were always sparking debates, amidst relating personal happenings.  

There were various other letters from friends and family including a couple I absolutely treasured from Faye which I feel like publishing:

"I just wanted to say I'm proud of you.  Almost every time I go to pray for you I want to argue with God about your fast and tell him to make you stop.  But every time I am refuted.  I'm glad that you have this opportunity to suffer for a time.  That is the weirdest sounding thing to say and no doubt if anyone else ever reads this letter they'll think you came from a very sadistic family, but I am glad for you.  I'm glad that when it's over you'll always be able to look back and know that you chose God and that God is so worthy of that choice that you would do it all over again.  I'm that that, perhaps for the first time in your life, you're learning to wait silently, without doing anything - I'm glad you'll have that experience too, even if it was only possible because your body was too weak to do much else.  You have tried not to let too many people know that you are fasting because it is something between you and God alone and so I constantly remind myself that it isn't my place to tell anyone either.  But for the people who do know, your actions are having a profound impact.  I think of you as "the changeling" in my mind because as you passionately seek change in your self, you cause the people and systems around you to change as well.  It just seems to be a unique charisma God gifted you with.  I'm glad you use it for good instead of evil.  :)  I love you very much Nolan and I know God is going to bless you for your obedience to him in ways I will never be able to even imagine. "

The 'good instead of evil' reference made me laugh because I also read a letter from Steve which contained:

"Hopefully there'll be more interesting people in CompSci than in Engineering.  That that the friends I made in Engg weren't nice but they're so not Nolanish.  That don't have that Nolany characteristic about them  And you know what?  I even have to humble myself to you in this aspect.  I alone am not strong enough to turn one, the way you turned Trevor.  Yes, you know what I'm talking about.  You are the emperor and poor little Trevor was Anakin.  If anything, I'm like Vader minus the evil aspect of course.  But you see, Vader wasn't strong enough to turn Luke over to the dark side.  You are the king of corruption.  If only I had an infectious robot to spread sarcasm and immature child-like behaviour all over campus.  I would call it NolBot2002."

Another letter from Faye, written January 17th 2006 (the date is included because I want to go look for the referenced blog - not because I compulsively added dates and times to nearly all my letters):

"Dear Nolan,

Sorry this isn't a comment on your log - I've had 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours and I just can't be bothered to remember what my epic password is.  Probably something like "nopassword"...

Anyways, I wanted to tell you something about yourself:  You're still my hero (even though you don't make cool motorcycle noises while you proudly bike around without having to sit on your bike seat! anymore).

Two weeks ago at Epic on Sunday, I sat beside Jen at church.  She wouldn't come sit close beside me - she needed space to feel strong.  I wished I could think of something to offer her in her grief over the loss of her mom, but the only thing that kept coming to mind was a passage from Captivating by John Eldrige, "After my father died, for weeks and months afterwards, the only thing that comforted me, that could heal me, was beauty."  

I didn't know how to offer Jen beauty.  Then you started dancing and playing with Conner on St. Paul's blessed slippery sloped wooden floors.  I watched her watch you both.  Conner kicked your shoe at you and she laughed.  I asked if she wanted to move over so she could see better.  She did.  I offered her your beauty, the glory of God in your love of a child.  

Going further back, a couple weeks after my birthday party, Caroline came up to me at Epic and told me, "I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to your party, and for sharing your family.  I just love your family!  They're so open and welcoming; I totally felt free to just be myself."  She was referring to our whole family in general, but I believe you were a great proportion of that reference, given that the biggest highlight of the party for her was watching My Fair Lady, where only you and Sam and my friends were present.

People change the way they act around you, Nolan.  In my experience, there are only 2 types of people for whom others will bend themselves to emulate a better version of themselves: (1) An intimidating tyrant who either manipulates or scares others to put on a false exterior of "goodness" or (2) a vibrant and genuine person who simply inspires other people to put out/forth the best that is in them, for sheer delight.  This person heals people just be being present.  Our grandparents are such people, I've noticed.  Sindy is such a person.  And so are you.  

I might not have had that birthday party if it wasn't for you, badgering me to do what you knew I wanted to do but was afraid of and therefore avoiding.  I do a LOT of things with you that I would never dare do alone and many other things alone that  I wouldn't make myself do unless you told me otherwise or I thought you would tell me otherwise.  I don't try those things because I'm afraid you'll judge me or "show me up" (like a classic "scrappy" middle child) but because you are a source of safety to me.  I know that God would never do anything evil to his children and I know that God speaks through you, so if you ask/tell me to do something, I feel compelled to courage, to strength, to challenge, to adventure, to love to go.  To be like you, in order to be more like me.

Um, anyways, I'm starting to babble.  You were right:  I did want to look at the blog.  Love always, Faye"

and lastly (because these were all I found in the folder):

"Happy Valentine's Day Nolan!

Since you refuse to abandon God's leading to accumulate the ill-fated love of another Delilah, this will probably be the only mushy and sentimental love letter you'll receive this Valentine's.  Take that!  

I love you, Nolan and I'm so glad you're my crazy older brother about whom I regale friends with tales of lunacy and androgyny.  I'm so grateful for all the times you've been there to listen to me or to teach me things about life and faith through your open/honest stories of your own journey. 

I'm proud of you for listening to God, even if you don't always follow his directions immediately.  I hope you have funk music dance parties with God and friends from here to Ontario to the Mediterranean to Timbuktu.  Love always, Faye Archer"

Honeymoon Research

So really I suppose this is mostly for Sherry, but this is where we'll be going for two weeks before heading to Guatemala:

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/playa-hermosa-costa-rica/travel.htm

which is inside:

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/guanacaste/costa-rica/travel.htm

Check out all the parks around!

Destroying Music

Now it's time to read boys and girls.  Today we'll learn about how modern mastering practices have produced albums to fatigue (aggravate) your brain and make you compulsively skip tracks, not to mention the loss in dynamic range that actually makes music interesting and enjoyable.  Yes yes Nolan but aren't you just ranting about some small sacrifice that they've made, surely in the name of the greater good?  No, the ideological benefits behind such practices are based on myth-driven industry competition.  Anyway, stop listening to me, and go read.

Austin360

Rolling Stone

Wikipedia

Divine Evening

Good evening, morning, whatever.  My eyes are begging me not to wake up for a long time, after I let them go to sleep, but I'm ignoring them just now.  Part of what I'll write shall explain why.  

I got home this evening already in a mood.  I could feel the mood coming at about 4:00 PM still at work.  I finished off the day fine, and when I came home I threw in a pizza to cook while I showered, home alone.  Before the pizza was even finished I already knew I needed to do something with someone, and preferably watch a movie.  What about my friends?  Hadn't I just talked to Kirk about watching a movie?  I'll call him.  I'm sure he would have except that he was already going to a friend's birthday party.  I wished him well and stared at the pizza baking in the oven.  I called Nathan, whose last movie, I still hadn't even seen!  No answer.  What about my family?  It would especially be great if I could watch a movie with Chasey, but I love all of my family.  It should be noted that before I even got home I thought of RJ whom I thought of last post, thinking, RJ will be sad that I didn't mention him and perhaps a little left out, silly RJ, of course I love him and am thinking of him, these were just random unfinished thoughts of a few people.  Anyway, I knew he was gone to Saskatchewan so I couldn't hang out with him. His car and his missing person at my house were evidence to support this when I arrived home.  How delightful for me that Faye answered the phone and said, you should ask Chasey, he's bored, I have to do homework.  Well sad for Faye needing to get homework done - I mean cheers that she's doing it, but sad that she's so burnt out of excessive school.  I packed my things, because I thought, I should just sleep over since I'm working on my car with my Dad in the morning anyway.  I included my journal, my premarital book, and hoped to do a lectio divina.  I set off and swore when I reached Barlowe Trail upon realizing that I'd forgotten my speaker which is slightly necessary to install before you can put the door panel back on.  

I talked with my Mom for 5 minutes or so when I got home, because I like her, and then I went down to Chasey's room.  I got to see his newly acquired acoustic bass, and hear about his first gig with his new band.  They played an X92.9 night at the Blind Beggar, and apparently got a very good crowd reaction.  Chasey wanted to ask my Dad if he wanted to watch the movie with us (what a stand-up-kind-a-guy that Chasey).  I was wary of his reaction since he tends to opt, rather vocally, for more entertainment-driven movies and I wanted to watch Magnolia...

He decided he wanted to watch it with us even though I warned him, and so we put it into the player only to find out:  This must be Andy's movie; it doesn't work.  Silly DVD coding regionality nonsense.  

Well, apparently the movie store at Village Square is cheap.  Good.  Let's go there.  So off we go.  Chasey drove, and as he commented, it was a first for him to drive me around.  We spent too long looking for movies (it's always too long) but it felt better because I was with other people and both Chasey and Dad have seen lots of movies that I have been interested in but didn't see.  Thus, I enjoyed just hearing about their satisfaction with a great many movies.  Anyway, I started to wind up and put the pressure on picking the movies.  Ah yes movies, with an s.  You see it's $3 to rent 1 movie for a week, but it's $6 to rent 3 movies for a week.  A no brainer of course...

So we came home with The Weatherman, Punch Drunk Love, and of course Magnolia.  Remind me to make sure I actually get to see The Weatherman with them since it was my pick...

We returned home where my Mom had fallen asleep on the couch.  My Dad made popcorn while Chasey showed me the mass Christmas family photos that Jono took.  They were stellar, but WHERE WERE THE TRADITIONAL NOLAN AND CHASEY PHOTOS???   I mean, they were stellar, thanks Jono!!! :)  

I got to see Samantha's grad photos too and can I say WOW?  Yeah, 30 stylish, fantastic, Samantha looking wonderful photos to choose from.  There wasn't a bad one in the bunch.  Write to your Calgary Board of Ed rep and thank them for firing Johnsten's, and then tell Sam how photogenic she is and how great her smile is.  

So then we sat down for the 3 hour movie.  It was odd, there was ridiculous amounts of swearing, an old couple having sex and yet again I enjoyed the Paul Thomas Anderson film.  

First of all, if you're going to make quirky, layered, thematic, subtle yet intense, slow, movies, you have to make them with a great deal of style so that they're still intriguing and enjoyable to watch.  It was.  Lots of really cool camera work, soundtrack integration, raining cats and dogs and frogs.  And ah yes, the oodles and oodles and still more noodles of connections and motifs and issues raised in the film.  

At the end my Dad gave me one of his looks and asked, "why did Andy like this movie so much?"

So I told him.  And then I proceeded to explain why I agreed with Andy.  Which is really to say that this movie is supposed to make you think.  What struck you?  What stuck out?  What impacted you?  And to be fair, I had to share what stuck out for me.  Which is hard with such a layered movie, because you need time to sort that all out.  But I thought out loud.  And it was a turning point.  Funny thing about watching a movie about 'coincidences' and connections because earlier, God had brought up again that I was to have our family have a forum on alcohol.  I still haven't done it.  But I'm shooting for April 19th now.  I'd talked to my Mom about it again in our 5 minute chat, but as we started discussing the movie, I felt God pointing out that this was a little preview.  

So I asked my Dad what stood out to him, and he had LOTS of interesting things to say, he impressed me once again, with how much he picks up that I miss, and Chasey shared, and my Mom shared and it was all very natural and interesting and personal and I loved every second of it.  

Twist

More and more I find myself searching for the depth in movies that I looked for before, but can appreciate to a greater extent now with a tiny bit more maturity.  After watching Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood, and Magnolia, and being hit with all of the brainwork and soul-searching that follows, it made me return to God repeatedly going on about me and music.  I'm supposed to be writing out my goals in music, in a similar way to what my guitar teacher had me do so many years ago.  Small goals, big goals, long term, practical, dreams, all of it.  

God's talked to me about making music that will have an effect on the spiritual.  

Watching movies like these makes me think of how art can be that way - no it's not quite the same.  But I think my goal is to go for it.  To see it through.  To see how making 'prophetic' music turns out.  Which seems simple but is quite a turn from my natural tendency to make excellence my highest (and hardest) goal in music.  

And I have to keep writing.  Not out of obligation although this is something else God's talked to me about.  Writing helps me establish things.  Keep writing.  OK.  My eyes will understand tonight.