08.27.08

I think I just threw up in my mouth. A little.

Posted in Political Commentary at 09:10 am by Josh

Why is Hillary Clinton all over the news? Why is she chanting cliche Democratic catch phrases which have to be headlined and repeated to the point of severe nausea on CNN? Hillary, sweetie, you’re my state senator and until you ran for President, I kind of liked you. But you lost. Twice. Obama won’t even take you as his running mate. He passed you over for the white-haired, trust-funded, two-tongued political norm. It’s good of you to support your party, but do sit down. You’re starting to look a bit ridiculous. Learn a lesson from Al Gore. The people rejected you. If you want to win them back, go write a book.

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08.24.08

Forgiveness

Posted in Theology, Culture, Life at 10:42 am by Josh

CNN recently posted an article about the health benefits of forgiveness. The article makes examples of a few different individuals who have been faced with difficults situations in which to forgive family members or loved ones. Every one of these individuals, when explaining how they finally came to forgiveness, cites external circumstances as either the obstacle to overcome or the justification; the reason the person could be forgiven. These things included abusive behavior (obstacle), lack of forgiveness from the perpetrator (obstacle), “that’s how things were back then” (justification), “then I realized that so-and-so had a hard life growing up and I understood what caused his or her behavior” (justification), etc. A professional then goes on to recommend confronting anger, talking it out with a friend or therapist, keeping a journal, meditation; in other words, looking for ways to understand and/or come to terms with your feelings so that you can begin to practice forgiveness.

Now what I’m going to suggest here will sound appalling to some while I’ve no doubt that others will cheer these sentiments across the home plate. Wherever you fall on the scale, please note that this is nothing more than my opinion.

Chrisitianity teaches us that none of us, not one person among us, is worthy of forgiveness. Non-Christians — indeed, even some Christians — really don’t like this idea. I can understand why. It’s not warm and fuzzy. It doesn’t intuitively resonate with us as the judgement of a loving God. That is because we do not fully understand what Love is. (There will be more on this concept at a later date; there is no time for it today.) The fact is, that if we have been created by the God of the universe, then we have also rebelled against Him and rebellion, by nature, deserves no forgiveness, no mercy.

Suppose that no one had ever taught you the first thing about morals. Do you think, then, that when a classmate in grammar school steals your sandwich or knocks you from the swing on the playground that you would not retaliate? Perhaps you’d steal something back or get into a physical altercation. You would not have forgiven the classmate and rightfully so. He has done nothing worth forgiving. He has hurt you; it is only fair that he should be hurt back.

Thankfully, this is not how we conduct ourselves, but I do not attribute that in the slightest to the goodness of mankind. If mankind were really so good, little boys would not steal lunches or knock classmates from swings in the first place. It would be counter-intuitive to our nature. I think, instead, that we have learned Forgiveness from a merciful God Who has chosen to forgive us. This choice of His is not the result of any benefit to Him at all; He does not need us, despite what we’d like to think. His Forgiveness comes from Love, pure and complete Love which, as I stated above, we do not fully understand.

So what can we understand? In terms of Forgiveness, I think that the answer is this. Overall, of course it is better to forgive than not to. It seems utter foolishness to say otherwise. However, if we are to do so – and if there is to be any real value to it besides the health benefits we may enjoy from fooling our bodies into believing we’ve truly forgiven someone – then we cannot begin to forgive by looking at the wrongs of the individual who has committed the offense. We must look, first, at ourselves. Now you are probably thinking me a bit idealistic or perhaps even ridiculous at this point. To be sure, if your car is broken, you look inside of it to find the problem and fix it accordingly. You get the parts from an outside source. Perhaps you even pay someone else to fix it for you. I will argue with none of this. What I will say, though, is that we as humans are all a part of the same machine. If you are broken, then so am I. And since I know myself much better than I know anyone else, no matter how close to parents, friends, siblings, spouse, etc., it makes the most sense to look inside of myself in order to forgive you. I will much sooner find what is wrong if I look inside the part of the machine I’ve owned for my lifetime than if I were to look into the part you’ve owned for yours. When we do this, what we ought to find two things which are simpler than you may expect. The first is that, as a broken machine, I could just as easily, at any moment of weakness, commit the same or a comparable offense as that which has called Forgiveness into question in the first place, regardless of my upbringing or society at the time. Second, and even more important, is that none of us deserve Forgiveness, but we have all been given it, if we are willing to accept it. There is the example for mankind to work from. If we have been forgiven for sins much greater than those we could commit against one another, then shouldn’t we forgive in the same way? CNN and it’s interviewees would not like me to tell you this, but you can save yourself much time, money, and apparently physical discomfort if you put unconditional Forgiveness into place.

I am sure you will tell me that this is more difficult that I make it sound. You are probably right. But squawking about the obstacles will do you no good in overcoming them. Only practice can do that.

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08.03.08

Need a concert buddy…

Posted in Music, Announcements at 12:55 pm by Josh

Anyone want to go see Keith Caputo (Life of Agony) at Mercury Lounge, 8/23 at 18:30? Ticket is $15, show probably won’t be long. Keith Caputo is one of the most influential artists I’ve ever listened to, both with LOA and solo. His solo work is less heavy and arguably more poetic, but his LOA stuff is equally as brilliant and probably more revolutionary, taking metal and making it so much more than angry words you can’t understand. Knowing Keith’s performance tendancies, it is highly unlikely that he will perform a lot of LOA material, but you never know .

First come, first serve. If I don’t have any volunteers by the 22nd, I’ll drag one of you with me.

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06.24.08

Lame-ification

Posted in Theology, Life at 09:43 am by Josh

I wasn’t feeling well yesterday, so I went home instead of doing things I’d otherwise committed to doing. (Sometimes, one has to just throw in the towel and call it a day.) The plan was to go home, cook the cutlets I had in the fridge so they didn’t spoil like the last batch, work on a new song, and hit the bed early. As usual, my plans didn’t go as I’d hoped.

I live in a basement apartment with an outside entrance. To get to my front door, you have to descend four or five stairs, and at the bottom is a landing, roughly 3×3. I opened the gate and went down the steps, only to be greeted by a little sparrow, not a baby, yet not much of an adult (even for a sparrow). I said hello, as is customary when you have an unexpected guest, and for a moment thought he might just be an extra friendly little guy, but I quickly noticed that he was hopping around, not making much of an effort to fly. I brought the groceries inside and went back out to observe him, a little nervous he might invite himself inside and suddenly regain his flight. He didn’t. Instead, he tried (in vain) to conquer the first step. He just couldn’t make it. I spent some time with him, hoping he’d get used to me, and he actually did. He stopped hopping around and just sat, exasperated and depressed. And of course, I got all lame and emotional.

I went inside and called every vet/humane society/animal control I could find and none of them would take my call, citing the late hour (6:30pm?). One person suggested I just leave the bird, but of course I couldn’t bring myself to that.

I found a shoebox (a really big one) and, sporadically calling my mother for advice or reassurance, I poked holes in it, laid down some towel, a water dish, and a little food bowl. Then I went to the store to get various seeds, after learning that sparrows, thankfully, do not eat worms. (My sympathy and caretaking do have a limit, and that limit is worms.) Anyway, after making a sick bay for the bird, I finally set out to pick him up. He made a little “tweet” just once, but was very well-behaved once I had hold of him. He hardly moved when I put him in his little bed, so I thought I’d leave him to get adjusted. I returned fifteen or twenty minutes later, and he was still complacent where I’d left him. It was maybe an hour or two later when I found him trying to burrow himself under the food bowl. I moved it, and found he was shaking rather forcefully. Of course, I knew there was nothing I could do, and I hated that.

Well, little Birdy didn’t make it. He had another fifteen minutes or so in him from there. The thing is, I’m still a little upset about it. Lame, yes, I know, but no one told you to read this far so if you’re here, try to bear with me for a moment. I’m trying to understand why I care at all about this little bird, why it was upsetting that he didn’t make it.

I find the trace brings me back to God. Seriously, think about this. God created all living things, and He does not want death for any of them. He made us in His image, which does not necessarily mean that we look like God, rather, that we share countless similarities with Him. These similarities are not all physical, as God is not all physical, so to be in His image must mean to be more than just a carbon-copy of an old bearded man (just one of the popular portrayals of God in art). So it is fitting that when something dies — anything — we should feel sadness, loss, etc, because we — being His image — also do not want death for any living thing. Of course, this brings up the popular, “Well, what about the insect you just stomped”. Look, I don’t have all the answers. But I can say this: Most regard insects as enemies; they attack us rather than defend themselves, whereas a sparrow may peck at my hand, but only out of self-defense. And in line with this whole image of God theory, God strikes down His enemies. Yes, our God has redeemed us. But do not think for a minute that those who adamently oppose Him — that is, show no love, respect, or acknowledgement of Him as superior to all — will see the same salvation. It is offered to them; it is their choice to take it or not. So long as one chooses to be His enemy, only death with no end can be the result. So it is with our natural “enemies”; we will kill bugs or animals that threaten our “sovereignty” on Earth, if you will. If cockroaches and bed bugs and the like would simply not invade my space, chew on my ankles, or contaminate my food, we would probably get along much better. They would no longer be a threat, and I would have no reason to call them enemies. The sparrow, who does not attack, can be reached by the grace of men. Bed bugs who bite, cannot. So it is also with the ways of God, Whose grace is beyond anything we can imagine.

All of that to say that I’m a little sad for Birdy today. Look at that: He even got a name.

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06.13.08

STAIN Bar 7/8 @ 9:30pm

Posted in Music, Announcements at 21:41 pm by Josh

That’s right, kids. I’m back. At least for now. Come experience the sounds I make for an hour on a Tuesday night in July. No cover! No drink minimum! (That means it costs you nothing except your time.)

I’ve never played an hour set before. We’ll see what happens. There will be one cover tune. Maybe two. Check out some demos here.

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06.02.08

Who Do You Love :-(

Posted in Music, Announcements, Life at 21:44 pm by Josh

Dude, this effing sucks.

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05.30.08

I’ve Been In This Business Too Long Already

Posted in Random Thoughts, Technology, Work at 09:41 am by Josh

I was just going onto Yahoo! Hotjobs to check some of our postings, when I accidentally typed in “hotmobs”. It dawned on me that this would be an excellent marketing tool for the ailing mafias of the world. Don’t ask me how the upkeep works; no doubt a civilian owes a mafioso a favor, is enlisted to start up the site, maintain it, keep it updated with all of the most current mob happenings, who’s moving up in the world, who probably has a contract on him, etc. The problem I see with this is that the up-and-comings will want the good publicity. They’ll threaten or kill the civilian – even though he’s a civilian — and then they’ll enlist their own, but the family that was attacked will probably strike back…Okay, this whole thing might get a little messy. But isn’t that what internet advertising is all about? And it just so happens I know the perfect company to serve ad campaigns to keep traffic coming through…

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05.23.08

The Woes of Rock n’ Roll

Posted in Music, New York City, Life at 19:11 pm by Josh

I’ve been feeling a little angry lately, and I think it might have something to do with the glaring lack of quality music coming to New York this summer. George Clinton and P-funk will be around, that’s true, and I’m going to brave that ferry to see Radiohead, but otherwise things are looking a little bleak or sold-out. How did I miss Pearl Jam and The Cure? Honestly, I must be getting old. And the Eagles are playing three shows?

Currently, all that’s left is Collective Soul with Blues Traveler and Live. Who’s with me?

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