Sexy vs. Beautiful

Let's think Sexy vs. Beautiful.

Sexy is generally a term used to show..."appreciation" for physical attributes. It's a term used say that something looks particularly good. Whether it's a car, a woman, a man, or a TARDIS. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.

Beautiful is something a bit more. It's a word to describe how a person or thing is attractive. But, not just the outside. It's the inside and outside of the person, if you will. It's their inner strength, their gentleness and kindness. And then there's the outside - the physical attributes.

But, really. For beauty, first and foremost are what's most important. Beautiful isn't skin deep. Sexy is.

Which would you rather be called?

Just a thought.

Happy New Year. One and All.

It's a new year. 2012. How do you feel about that? Excited? Nervous? Scared? Happy?

To be quite honest: I don't know myself. I'm not exactly excited. Not nervous. Not scared. Not really happy. I'd say neutral, at best. Which is funny, because, for the last three or so years, I always had this inexplicable feeling of dread. I was so frightened of what would happen when the ball would drop, ushering in the celebrations of a whole new year. Funny, right?

This year, I kind of decided, there was nothing to fear. Nothing to be nervous about. Sure, I don't know what will happen. But, Lord willin' and the creek don't rise, the sun will come up in the East come morn, and set in the west once evening falls. What's that verse? Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Something like that.

And yet, the new year could mean something to people. Perhaps it means the first year without a loved one. In that case, I am sorry. I will grieve for you, with you. If that is the case, I dearly hope that this new year will be a year of mending and healing. Of comfort and joy, with the sorrow fading, but the memory of love ever lingering.

A new year could mean one of fear. Of the unknown. Perhaps you fear the unknown. You fear of failures to come, of no tomorrow. You're scared out of your wits that you will be hated, that your darkest secrets will come to light this year, and you will be abhorred for them. If that is the case, I do hope and pray that they do come to light. But, in doing so, they become demolished, and you find forgiveness. And in that forgiveness, you find freedom.

One last thing. Perhaps this year means hope. A fresh start. New beginnings. I do hope this is the case. I want your mistakes of last year - and all previous ones - to wash away. I want you to live this new year in the light, with you pushing ever onward as a new creature.

And, really, I wish this on everyone. I hope and pray that you all realize that you can be comforted, that you can be made brave - can put faith in Someone who will always hold you up and close in the face of the unknown, and Who can give you a new beginning. A fresh start. Who can wash away those sins and say, "You are a new creature. My beloved child."

Happy New Year! May it be blessed and full of grace!

The Lord is good.

I heard in a sermon today that we often forget the real meaning of the season. The Christmas season, that is. And, I couldn't help but think that, perhaps, it's not so much that we forget. It's that we simply take it for granted.

How often to you forget you're breathing? All the time, right? And, it's not that you've forgotten to breathe, heavens, no. You can't forget to breathe. It's impossible, because it's an involuntary action, one completely controlled by your sub-conscious, much like the beating of your heart, you can't turn it off. But, you don't always remember that you're doing it. Not until you think about it (My guess? You're paying attention to your breathing right now because of this li'l ol' paragraph. ;] ).

It's a bit like Christmas. We all know (though perhaps we may not all agree) the meaning and story behind it. How can't we? We see the nativities everywhere, we hear 'Silent Night' fifty times a day, and it is one of the special occasions people who don't normally go to church go to church. But, for how many of us does it still remain special? For how many of us does Christmas remain a sacred time?

Breathing is taken for granted, and yet it's very nearly the very essence of living.

Christ came down on Christmas day, from His rightful place as the Son of God, to be human, and eventually to be crucified on the cross for our sins. He died so we can live. He is the very essence of living. And we take His birth for granted.

Guys. We're really stupid. Really, really stupid. We do stupid things. Think stupid things. We're just stupid. We're full of sin, which is pretty much while we're stupid.... And, seriously. Take a step back, and look at yourself. Truly, deeply, look at yourself. You are despicable. I should know. 'Cuz so am I.

And, yet, here we have a baby born 2,000 or so years ago that loves us way more than we could ever love ourselves. A baby.

The Lord is good. We can all go on all day long complaining about our lives, our family situations, our work, whatever. And we can do it all on before, on, and after Christmas day. And so forget why we give each other gifts, and just take for granted that we're celebrating the day at all.

The Lord's too good for us. And He still came.

Merry Christmas.

Bah Humbug!

Let's get something straight. I love Christmas. It's my favorite holiday. I love the look. I love the feel. I love the smell. I love the music. Scratch that. I adore the music! Michael W. Smith? Best Christmas music ever. And that's a true story.

Anyways, so, it's my favorite. However. It's not Christmas yet. Thanksgiving hasn't even come to pass. So, all this Christmas-music-playing-shenanigans? That has got to stop. I understand that it can be good for the business (yeah, I'm talking to you, retail stores!) But, c'mon!! Everybody knows it's coming up!

So, I just wanted you to know. Christmas can't officially start until Black Friday. So there.

The end.

Ten Years

Can you believe it's been ten years since it happened? I was eight. I didn't understand what was happening, and, to be quite honest, I didn't care to, either. I didn't understand why we were even watching it, nor did I understand how my mother could cry for so many people she didn't even know. And, honestly, I still don't.

In the following days, I do remember there being a certain sense of fear that hung in the air. Wondering if it's truly safe to fly, hoping that no one will try to crash a plane into our house, and, wondering if we would ever get them, the terrorists, specifically Osama Bin Laden, who were behind this.

But the fear slowly faded, and my lack of understanding about that day was never really requited. No, I never felt the pain, I never understood the prayer that seemed to poor out of my mother's mouth while behind her, on our small tv, there was the image of towers that had smoke, thick, black smoke, poring out of them reaching toward the beautiful blue sky.

How interesting it is that the sky was so calm and clean, clear of storms on that day of death.

How interesting that it has taken me these ten years to come close to realizing what happened, exactly on that day of death.

How interesting it is that it nearly took ten years to bring some semblance of justice to the families who still grieve and feel pain on this day.

When Bin Laden was killed, I had to sort through my feelings about that moment. I wasn't happy, though I was relieved. And yet, there was a slight fear. Fear of retaliation. I suppose that's still there, somewhere, but, I'm not sure.

I wasn't happy because, well, I couldn't be. Could I? A man we've all agreed, at one point or another, deserved death, and here, he got it. Yet, I wasn't happy or pleased. He was dead. Without trial, though I don't believe he needed it. A trial would have been more of a formality than a serious ordeal, after everything he's done.

So, what to do? Only one thing - look back. I looked back at the towers, the smoke, the panic, the death. And, looking back, I realized that I don't celebrate in his death, but, the justice of it. Murders were repaid. Families, I can only hope, can feel a slight bit of healing, another step knowing that their loved ones didn't die unavenged.

My, my. Ten years. They've gone by so fast, and, yet, that image is still crystal clear.

It's the Basics.

     Seriously. I have come across two stories - TWO! Count 'em - stories in a row on my writing site Inkpop that did not use quotation marks for their conversations, or apostrophes in their contractions. Those are, quite possibly, the two most basic rules in the art of writing (and, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but, for the purposes of this post, I'm not.).

These are quotation marks.

     Now, I will readily admit that I am, in no way, the foremost knowledgeable person on the subject of grammar. I'm awful with grammar. I don't even like to use it all that much, unless I'm in one of my moods. But, seriously. This is what I might come across:

             Billy walked across the street to the playground, where his friend Sam was playing on the 

       swing. Hey, he said. How long have you been here?

             Oh, Sam replied, not too long. Im only here because I was bored. 

     Okay, so, the writing wasn't as atrocious as that little conversation was, not in the least. But, do you see what happened? Billy and Sam looked like they were telepathically conversing! They were missing quotation marks, and little Sam here has clearly never learned how to contract! "I'm" looks no different than "Im." And "Im" isn't even a word, as far as I, or google chrome, can tell. 

     I mean, this is seriously stressing me out. I'm pretty sure I knew about quotation marks before I knew about paragraphs (clearly). I knew that quotation marks indicated someone speaking pretty much as soon as I could read...I guess I assumed everyone else could, too. 

     Alright then, recap: Quotation marks indicate when someone is speaking. "Hey," he said. "How long have you been here?"

     Apostrophes are used for (but not limited to) contractions. "I'm only here because I was bored."

     See?

     

     That's how it's done. Don't you forget it.

I Thought, the Trinity?

I was quite excited to see that he had finally posted a new album. And by he, I mean, TJ Hester. But I was kind.of disappointed to note that it was a Single. I mean, that's what it said - "Tradition - Single." Bummer, right? That meant that only the song "Tradition" would be there, and not the other two songs. Until I checked it out on iTunes.

Tradition -Single

And, lo and behold! There were three songs, not just one! I was shocked and amazed, overcome by the glory of it all. But then, I was wondering, why did it say single? Why not EP like his other album, "The Wild"?

Perhaps, I wondered, it was some kind of Trinity reference (I sincerely doubt this, it is simply what first entered my thoughts when I saw that there were three songs in a single.). You know, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Makes sense, yes?

God is three persons, this Single is three songs. That sounded very grammatically incorrect. Unless I'm making things up in my head.

Anyways, then I got to thinking, "Well, if this single is like the Trinity, Who do each songs represent?"

I decided that Tradition represents God, Deep River represents the Holy Spirit, and 20 Years represents Jesus. I have absolutely no grounding for this. Just so you know.

The Wild - EP (go...go get it. now.)

It's a great album, though. Go get it. And, while you're at it, go get TJ's first EP, The Wild. Here, I'll even let you preview it: http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/tj-hester/id348068575 .

I've even shown you the album covers.

And, should you  buy them, you're quite welcome.