I left for East Asia in June.
I left East Asia in August.
I do not know where I was between August 8 and October 28,
but I think I am home now.


Praise Father.

Not because it is rational...

"to refuse to forgive 'thee' [the Other] is to demand more than God has demanded from 'me.'"

"We should never make our forgiveness dependent upon or conditioned by another's apology. It is presumed and unconditional. As we are subtly reminded in the example of the sinful woman in Luke's Gospel (see 7:36-50), some people crave to be pardoned but have never learned the social grace of directly asking for it. We forgive not because it is rational nor because of a person's request. We forgive simply because of the Lord and Divine Master's requirement. It is the fruit of a follower's fidelity and the most difficult footprint in which to step."

-Albert Haase, Franciscan priest, in Reflections on the Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Amen.

Prone to Wander

Oh to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be
Let that grace now like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.



Oh buddy.

Hello, 6-Mercaptopurine, it's been a minute. Why don't you have a seat and stay for awhile.





I'm so me-centric, I need readjusted.

this is not my bike, this is the bike i ride... be!

Fromm is blowing my mind even more the second time around. Which is impressive. I really want to read Marcel's "Having and Being"... but it seems as though I lack time.


"Knowledge emerges only through invention and reinvention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry [people] pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other."
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed


This is coming to light. Particularly in regards to recent developments in terms of friendships and pressing issues ("Count Me In" for example). We must continue to strive toward unity and peace, always.

Sleep is foreign these days.

mewithoutYou Aaron Weiss in Amsterdam

I used to watch this on a regular basis.

mental hunger

I am fascinated by May Ziyada.

"Like [emergent Egyptian/Syrian women] I cry out enthusiastically and, following their model, I call for progress, understanding and the good of the nations!"


-addition a couple hours later-
I cannot focus on studying. I got distracted by Sophie Calle, french photographer, etc.

Sophie Calle leave me alone I need to learn about Huda Shaarawi.

Meanwhile, in the past ten minutes I have seen both Mary and Hoa Chi...

Been a second

Originally I was going to spend the night listening to Rigoberta Manchu. Then there were fanny-pack-bike-gang plans, followed by possible pseudo-rave plans. Then there were thoughts of spending the whole night studying Arabic Feminist Lit...

Tonight after I got home from work I tried to nap. This is a new thing, I come home and, exhausted from going to class all day and then working, I try to sleep for a small bit to re-energize for the last leg of the day. It doesn't work, though, me napping. Not at all. I mostly just lay there and listen to Rosie, thinking about people and things. After this I was buckling down to some Arabic when Mary dropped by. I'm so thankful for Mary. We talked for a long time, looked at the good book, and spent some time in pr.

I'm glad that I spent my night doing only this. I feel stretched so thin between class, work, and people. It doesn't have to be this way, I just allow it to be. So then there are opportunities for grace, which I'm so thankful for.

I saw Dylan and Costello last Saturday night. Not Amos Lee, however, because he played a fifteen minute set! As Paul and I were walking into the arena, the music stopped, the lights turned on, and we asked a fellow, "is he done?" The answer was yes-- we missed it all! Costello was so great though, I really enjoyed listening to him. We decided we should have been closer for Dylan, so we did some sneaking and ended up behind the stage with a bunch of sound equipment, but ultimately decided that it was necessary to see Dylan from the front (lest we see only his shoes) so we very easily accessed the ground floor. Most of Dylan's set was from Modern Times, which was to be expected but a little bit of a bummer nonetheless. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have seen the man live, but what I wouldn't have done to hear "Blowin' in the Wind," or "All Along The Watchtower" live! We biked to and fro.

Mary brought me a photo from the Good Neighbor's picnic a couple Saturdays ago of Donnie, me, and Lenny. They look so hardcore-- especially Lenny with his spikes everywhere. I mostly just look sweaty and happy. I was, you know? There really is nothing like spending the afternoon talking to broken-and-honest-about-it brothers and sisters and getting your soulja boy dance on with street kids. I want to be surrounded by this more often-- once a week is far too little for my soul.

I should sleep. That's another thing I'm trying to do more of: sleep.