Maybe Because I Tend to Choose Loyalty Over Money

Matisyahu On God's Absence

I recently read an interview with Matisyahu in Relevant Magazine.  One particular Q&A within it caught my attention.

Q: On "Silence," a track off your new album, you tackle the tough issue of feeling God's absence in the midst of struggle.  Theodicy is something a lot of us struggle with, both within Judaism and within Christianity.  Do you have any ways that you personally deal with this issue in your spiritual life?

A: I think we need to embrace that feeling because it works in two ways.  On the song I discuss the idea of God being absent, but then I add the lyric, "I wouldn't have it any other way."  In other words, God is sovereign and acts in distinct ways that we don't know about, but that's how it should be.  There's a philosophical idea in Judaism that God, in order to create the world, had to evacuate Himself from it, in a sense.  So God's absent just enough in order that the world can feel its own autonomy.  It can in a sense exist on its own, and that's the ultimate act of giving for God: to pull away.
     And at the end, when a person lives through God's absence and then goes to his or her church or temple, there's a feeling that God has created something, a lesson or a learning experience.  There's a creative element to the absence, and I think often there's a redemptive quality to it.

Best Bud Wedding

My bestest friend Tommy's wedding pics have made it on a wedding blog! Rightly so too, because the pictures look great. I thought I'd share them here. Follow the link!

Spontaneous Bon Iver - For Emma

Bon Iver - For Emma, For Ever Ago - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

What I would give to just sing

..spontaneously..

...with quality...

....with beauty....

Caffe Capri

Today is more of a personal post. And like most personal posts, it will be interesting and fun for me more so than for you. :) Perhaps you'll enjoy it a bit.

I woke to a cold, wet morning. Last night was the first night I needed a second blanket. Today is the first day they turned the boiler on in my apartment. It is that fall day we all know very well--disgusting, dank, and somehow uncomfortably cozy.


The cozy part of the day came when I decided to walk in and check out Caffe Capri. It's an old coffee place around the corner. When I first noticed it yesterday I imagined it would have a kind old lady at the counter, the decor would be wonderfully gaudy and dated, and the coffee would be just so-so. I've never assumed more correctly. Yesterday I judged a book by it's cover and wasn't let down. This woman served me.

She was quiet, but friendly. I fell for her the way a child falls for the cozy part of his mother's shoulder during a Sunday sermon's nap. As for the decor, there were lots of the usual Italian tidbits to the like of a newspaper clipping of ol' blue eyes himself, Frank Sinatra. The whole experience reminded me of a place you would find in a small European town. Again, I loved it.

All of this was very much encouraged by my reading of A Farewell To Arms. I read these days. It is solely attributed to riding the subway. Without giving you the whole rundown, I'll just say that the book makes me want to re-live history, drink....A LOT....and just sit back with a close friend and shoot the shit.

Levi's Ad - Pioneers

I found this on a blog I finally found: Secret Forts.

The Pacific

I cannot wait for this...