I'm thinkin about trying out Maxim's new hair color for men. You know, I'll feel a bit more secure about coloring my hair if I use a manly product. None of that foo-foo L'oreal Frosty Tips for Her kinda stuff. ^_^ 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... let's jam .... AND ... this might be old news to some, but I've just discovered that Cowboy Bebop is THE frickin - COOLEST - cartoon ever. Tonite on Cartoon Network, they've showed like 6 episodes in a row, and man its so entertaining. Even the intro sequence is tres-cool. It has a sort of Snatch (the movie)-ish feel, and I so dig that. If I can find some images, I'll definitely put them in the wallpaper rotation, and post a few here. Seriously, just the intro is the bomb. I love it. Wanna find it in MPEG format or something. The characters are so entertaining and ... you just sorta wanna see what happens to them. The soundtrack is just totally awesome, so catchy. With overall jazz/blues influences, it inspires you to put on the fedora and tap the feet. And the Japanese out-tro is teh winner! At the end of each episode, they show a phrase that sort of sums up the story in a dry humor way, and its pretty well written. Here's a quote from CmdrTaco (of /. fame?) about Cowboy Bebop:

Perhaps the most acclaimed anime series in recent years... but why? Is it the entertaining charachters? The wonderful designs? The fluid animation? The jaw dropping music? The compelling story? I couldn't begin to tell you all the reasons that this series is so amazing. But watching Faye, Spike, Jet, Ed, and Ein all meet up, wander about in their world, and interact is just a joy. If you haven't seen this series, then you're missing something truly special. Start at the beginning: there are 26 diamonds contained here. Enjoy. --CmdrTaco

After I got home this evening, I watched the very end of John Q with my dad. He's a man who gets to a make-or-break point in his life, and he chooses to be dangerous for his family. He sets his face with steely resolve, hardens himself despite fear and doubt, and totally goes for it, simply because, there is no alternative. It's live or die time. He's a father who, when it comes down to the wire, is willing to take it on the chin for his son. There was something really inspiring about the movie, something that felt very familiar to me, the whisper about the character of God. Afterward, I sat down and wrote this: "Lord, you validate me, and make me into that man [of courage]. Because that's your character [willing to be dangerous]. Because you're my hero and I want to be like you. You are unafraid to take it on the chin, to risk humiliation and disgrace for the ones you love. And so I will walk in your footsteps, because you're my hero."

The other night, I saw a guy named Mark Chironna on TV. He's a mail reader. I mentioned what I saw to a fellow co-worker, Bob, over lunch, and boy, was I surprised by his response. I guess I just assumed that Bob probably wouldn't be familiar with what I described. He told me that at his church, West Oaks Fellowship, there is a man who has what they sometimes jokingly refer to as a "parking lot ministry." Apparently this man is quite different from your run of the mill everyday joe. He has inside of him large chunks of scripture. Most Christians memorize a verse or two here and there, this guy has somehow gotten large chunks of the bible inside himself. Memorized entire chapters and books. All living inside of him now. Eaten. This guy seemingly spends more time in the parking lot of the church than inside the walls. He'll randomly strike up conversations with people who are headed inside, "Hi there, how are you today?" Whenever Bob talks to him, he gets the very vulnerable and naked feeling that this man is able to his see insides, and all of Bob's thoughts and the secrets of his heart are laid bare. And apparently he's gifted at not only bringing these issues to the surface, but also lovingly helping people work thru these issues. What an awesome and powerful gift to the body of Christ. I think of what happens when people give themselves to a lifestyle of surrender and worship to God, and day by day, step by step, they grow into intimacy with the Father. And the Father doesn't withhold his secrets, but he allows his children to lean against his chest and listen to his heartbeat, just as John the disciple did, "the one whom Jesus loved." He whispers intimate secrets to those he trusts. According to Bob, this man is sometimes invited to minister to the youth at church. His teaching style is best described as unique. Anyway, its just so cool and weird how these things come together. Bob is an older guy at my workplace, who loves God a lot, but I'd have never expected to hear a story like this from him. Thanks.

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, "I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

Sometimes, when I'm just hangin' out, thinkin about life and chillin with God, I'll feel the eyes of the prophet upon my own soul. I see the steady gaze of Jesus into my own eyes and I feel weak in the knees because I know that he KNOWS. In that steady gaze, all my folly and weakness is laid out. In the very moment when I realize I could so easily be crushed, I instead find healing for all my wounds, and forgiveness for my sin - like cool water to a parched and beaten man. The gaze isn't one of condemnation but of righteousness and tender love. And he always says to me, time and time again in that moment of nakedness and vulnerability, "Take courage, my son."

One of the greatest mysteries of life is that life is a mystery. The human mind, particularly the western mind, has an insatiable desire to explain everything. All things must be explained, all things must be understood, broken down to their bare essentials, and then broken down even further. The questions are always there, Why? and How? What I find very scary and very liberating is to relinquish control. To let go of the need to know why. To trust. And not just in a general, "ok, I'll never know so instead I'll guess I'll just trust," but to really really let it go. Completely just not know, but trust anyway. It doesn't make sense, it might seem foolish, it might cost, but heck, what do I really have to lose anyway? Heh. Its funny, this experience of living in a world and knowing God, and living with people who don't know God, and trying to reconcile the differences and the similarities. The thing about a heart that is in pursuit of God is that the path that God takes us on is completely insensitive to the demands of the world. So, the people around us tend to scratch their heads, huh? what in the world is this guy thinking? But the frickin amazing thing of it all is this: two things that don't belong together end up together- mystery and peace. The mystery of not knowing what the future holds. The mystery of not knowing why things have progressed the way they have, why my circumstances are the way they are, and why I am the way I am. The mystery of not even knowing what today holds. And in the midst of all these unknowns - surprisingly is PEACE. When the whole world is fighting for control of their lives, endlessly attempting to manipulate the circumstances around them. Striving for a sense of security, to be masters of our own destiny. Hungry for love, looking for someone to satisfy the longing for intimacy, or perhaps, disappointed by people, then seeking something that satisfies. Or, eager for success, because money does bring the power to control our future outcome, and it gives security and happiness, and well ... you know, everyone else is doin' it, so why shan't I? Yet the soul who has tasted and met the true and living God - the storms might swirl around, the proverbial poo may be hitting the fan, even when the tragedy of tragedy strikes ... the soul who knows God begins to understand every day that there is no such thing as control. And in that is an unquenchable peace. The peace of knowing a love that is unchanging. A love that is constant, not changing and shifting like people who are imperfect, and relationships that disappoint, but is constant - the only true foundation that can be stood upon and the only thing that never changes. Not with circumstances, not with our behavior, not with anything. A compelling love that exchanges God's abundant life for my life of sorrow and frustration. A love that continually and overwhelmingly pours out itself to cover over and flow into the objects of his affections. Not a one time deal, in a distant past story of someone else's life, but a here and now and forever abiding love. This awesome love that begins to paint a different picture, that wooes us and summons us and beckons us away from the temporal, from what will inevitably disintegrate and *poof*, and instead, beckons us and calls us toward something unseen, yet so unbelievably real, so pure, so relieving to the thirstiest of souls. And so the God of the universe invites each of us, personally, to give up the things that we can't keep, in order to find the things that we can never lose, can never be taken away, that reside in the very depths of our being. Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

"God never ceases to speak to us, but the noise of the world without and the tumult of our passions within bewilder us and prevent us from listening to him." - Fenelon