Random Thoughts

I typically do these random thoughts blogs when I haven't posted in a while.  I just haven't had that much to post about lately, but here goes.

• Just watched a movie called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly about a man that has a stroke and gets locked in his mind.  He only has the ability to blink his left eye, but manages to write a book about his life and experience.  True story, great movie!
• Today is the 55th birthday of the man, the myth, the legend...Jerry Seinfeld.  In honor of him, please watch at least one episode of the show today, you can bet I will.
• A couple of weeks ago Nick Swisher played first base for the Yankees, hit a HR, and then came in to pitch a scoreless inning.  The only other time that an AL pitcher hit a HR and pitched in a game since the DH was Jeff Kunkel of the Texas Rangers in 1989.
• Switchfoot posted this statement on their Twitter last week: "So we haven't been entirely honest when we said we've been recording a new record. The truth is, we actually recorded 4 albums, 80+ songs.  We'll be releasing them one at a time, starting with the first one this aug/sept."  -  Incredible!

Pursuing your dream!

Kimberly and I just finished watching a movie called Man on Wire.  It was about a man by the name of Philippe Petit, who back in 1974 wire walked between the World Trade Center towers for 45 minutes.  It was a pretty incredible feat, but the real accomplishment was how he did it.

He realized that he wanted to do it back in 1968 before ground had even been broken on the towers.  On top of that, he would have to do the walk without the permission of the World Trade Center since there was no way they were going to allow someone to wire walk 1350 feet above Manhattan.  He pretended to be a French journalist, a construction worker, and a electric fence installer all in order to investigate the buildings and set up equipment.  He was even caught by the police one time, but it never deterred him from his dream.  Hearing him talk now 30+ years later you can hear the excitement in his voice.  Clearly this was his passion.

What are you passionate about?  What would you do to pursue your dream and would you let anything stand in your way?

Town Hall for Hope

The economy is bad right now, we all know that, but it doesn't have to be bad for you.  If you're sick and tired of hearing all the bad news about the economy then go to a Town Hall for Hope meeting near you.  Dave Ramsey will be providing insiteful answers to questions that are nagging at you about the current economy.  Even if you are not currently struggling financially this will be helpful resource for your future.

This is being broadcast live in over 5,000 different venues nationwide, so I'm sure there is one near you.  Find one, go!

Good Friday Service

Friday night we went to the Good Friday Service at Duke Chapel and let me say, it was an awesome experience.  It started off like a typical service with hymns sung and a brief sermon.  After that, there six candles and a "Christ" candle lit up front.  Someone came and read six passages from Matthew, starting with the scene in Gethsamane and ending with the crucifixion.  After each passage was read, we sung a line from a hymn and a candle was extinguished.  By the end, all of the candles and all of the lights were cut off in the chapel.  When I say all of the lights, I mean ALL of the lights!

If you ever wondering what a big chapel like Duke's looks like with all the lights off at night, it's really dark.  As I was sitting there, I was expecting the lights to come back on after a few seconds, but they didn't.  I kept hoping they would come back on, but they still didn't.  The thought that ran through my mind at that point was, "this is what the disciples must have felt like after Jesus died."  Total dispair, waiting for something to happen, but nothing.  They had placed ALL of their hopes on this man being their Messiah and now he's dead.  To me it only added to the awesomeness of the ressurection.  It was truly and amazing experience.

Also, we were in a thunderstorm, so shortly after the lights went off we had lightning that lit up the entire chapel, followed by a huge clap of thunder!

Maundy Thursday

"I no longer call you servants, because I servant does not know his master's business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I have learned from my father, I have made known to you." - Matthew 15:15

Sometimes a friend is called an "other self."  What this means is that a friend is basically an extension of you.  When your friend celebrates, you celebrate with them.  When your friend grieves, you grieve with them.  Jesus called us friends, therefore we should suffer with him in his crucifixion.  We didn't have to go to the cross; Jesus did that for us, but our "selves" should die daily, just as Jesus died for us.

This is just one of the messages I heard like night that I really liked.  The service was very formal.  We sung hymns, did recitations, and had scripture readings.  Duke is Methodist although it kind of came off what I imagine a Catholic Church to be like.  I'm not sure if this is typical for a Methodist Church or if Duke does things different.  At first it's easy to be critical of the ritualistic nature of the service, seeing as how that I have attended mostly churches that try to get away from that.  However, I really enjoyed it.  It's very bare bones and straight to the point.

I love my church, but sometimes my non-traditional church can become repetitive and very traditional in it's own way.  Going to a service like this helped me regain my focus on what's most important, especially at this time of year.

Holy Week

So Kim and I are doing something this year that neither of us has ever done before.  We are going to holy week services.  Tonight we are going to Duke Chapel for Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday service and tomorrow night we are going for Good Friday service.  Maundy Thursday is done to remember the passover meal with the disciples, the washing of the feet, the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, and the events of the Garden of Gethsemane so I'm not really sure what to expect from this.  Good Friday services, I'm told, are very somber as they remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  My hope for this service is that the somberness of focusing on Jesus' death will give me an even greater appreciation of what happened on Easter Sunday.  I plan on writing about my experiences with the two services, but I would encourage you to try to find a service in your area that you can attend to, I think it will be worth your while.

One of a kind

So, I just saw a story about a man named Jim Ancel.  Mr. Ancel is a collector of baseball memorabilia.  He's got the jersey that George Brett wore in the "pine tar incident", he's got the line-up card from Ripken's record breaking game, he's got letters from Lou Gehrig to his doctor, and he's even got a love letter from Marylin Monroe to Joltin' Joe DiMaggio; it's an impressive collection.

But those pale in comparison to his other items.  He has a baseball collection that is truly one of a kind, so much so that not even the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown can match.  He has baseballs signed by all the Presidents of the United States dating back to Theodore Roosevelt!  The ball signed by President Roosevelt is the only one known to exist.  Of the next 5 presidents, only his ball and one at the Hall of Fame actually exist.  As a fan of the sport and a minor collector of items, seeing this story is jaw dropping, it's history right there to see.