Life, Love, and Everything In Between

God

He humbled me today, it was good. Tough, but good.

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 8:03 p.m. 1 Comments

What I've Learned From School

When i was younger i wasn't a very good student, its not that school was overly hard, it was more like i wasn't very interested in learning what was in books. But, not everything you need to learn in life comes from books. For example: Math is not my best subject, but what i have learned is that sometimes letters can be numbers, and, i learned to add my weaknesses together and subtract them from the sum total of myself, to multiply my strengths, and to not divide others. When we learned how to count money i would always lose count, but i learned that the best way to make change didn't come from a pocket of coins, but from the words on my tounge and the actions of my hands. In English i learned to compose an apology and to write my wrongs, and to never judge a book by its cover, Shakespeare has some very boring covers, but can teach us more about human nature than any other book written. In Social studies we studied the economy, and how money affects the world, how to invest and what to invest in, and that most valuable comodoty, even more so than gold, is love, its very scarce in the world these days. We learned about various people groups around the world, and how different so many cultures are, but no matter how different people are they are still people, and they should be treated as such. Music class taught me to appreciate sound, to listen to all kinds of music, that if i limit what i listen to i only limit myself, and sometimes its best to stop making noise, rest, and just listen....silence is part of music too. I was terrible at drawing, so art class was tough for me, i learned to draw inspirtation from the world around me and to appreciate things i couldn't understand. In physics i learned to respect the gravity of tough situations, the world is bigger than just me, and there are things that we can't see, but they are still there. There are questions that are not easily answered, and they may never be. In Gym class i learned to wrestle, and that sometimes when someone pushes you, the best defence isn't to push back, but to just roll with it, use your opponts weight against him. When we played hockey i learned that sometimes the point isn't to win, but to just have fun, even if you lose, no one likes a sore loser. And when i graduated i realized that life is short, that school doesn't last forever, but learning lasts your entire life.

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 5:01 p.m. 1 Comments

An excerpt from my latest essay

I'm working on an essay right now about the Old English Poem, 'The Wanderer'. Its proving to be quite difficult, but thats my own fault as i decieded to choose my own topic, and had it okay'd by the prof. Here is part of it:

Before a proper analysis of the poem may be complete, a full explanation of the terms elegy and stoic, and how they apply to Chrisitanity, are in order. The Oxford English Dictionary defines elegy as a "a mournful poem, typically a lament for the dead", Fulk and Cain seem to define elegy as needing to secularity (p. 181). This is in response to the question of why Dream of the Rood is not considered an elegy, as The Wanderer usually is. Obviously Dream of the Rood is not an elegy because, although there is an element of sadness to it, it is a symbollic narrative describing Christ's death on the cross. Is it possible that The Wanderer is very similar in that aspect? There are examples of elegiac thought throughout the psalms, for instance Psalm 84 when the authour laments with "My heart and flesh cry out for the living God" Is this an elegy, or possibly just a cry for God? Perphaps, in The Wanderer the authour uses the device of lamentation to bring about an emotional relationship with the Solitary One? Anglo-Saxon's were very familiar with the role of a lord and servant, and how they related to each other. Many OE texts deal with service to an earthly lord, so Anglo-Saxons would be aware of the feeling of loss resultant at the death and burial of ones lord. The "Anahaga" laments for a fallen earthy lord "freomægum feor / feterum sælan, siþþan geara iu / goldwine minne / hrusan heolstre biwrah, / ond ic hean þonan / wod wintercearig / ofer waþema gebind" as well as reflects on the days of old. The authour uses this to build familiarity between reader and "Anhaga". One of the largest influences on the text is stoicism. Stoicism is a philosophy originally from ancient greece and, as far as stoics believe, is a way of life and not just a meer philosophy. Richard Tarnas defines Stocism in this way: " In the Stoic view, all reality was pervaded by an intelligent divine force, the logos or universal reason which ordered all things. Man could achieve genuine happiness only by attuning his life and character to this all-powerful providential wisdom. To be free was to live in conformity with God's will, and what mattered finally in life was the virtuous state of the soul, not the circumstances of the outer life. The Stoic sage, marked by inner serenity, sternness in self-discipline, and conscientious performance of duty, was indifferent to the vagaries of external events. [sic]" From this definition it is clear to see that Stoicism lives quite atuned with the Christian life. The reason attention should be payed to Stoicism is because it had great effect on much of early Christianity. Thomas Hill explains that "Both Anlgo-Saxon culture, as well as traditional Germanic culture, which informed the ideals of the warrior-elite, were profoundly influenced by what we may loosely call Stoicism". This can be easily be seen because the Solitary One continually seeks to be emotionally unmoved from his current postion, evidence of this exists when he says "Wita sceal geþyldig, / ne sceal no to hatheort / ne to hrædwyrde, / ne to wac wiga / ne to wanhydig, / ne to forht ne to fægen, / ne to feohgifre / ne næfre gielpes to georn, / ær he geare cunne". This could possibly be the "Anhaga" reasuring himself with his previous teachings, teachings that are quite similar to that of Stoicism. He reminds himself to never become too emotional or let his life become effected by outside means, like money, or to become reckless in his pursuits. But how does Stoicism relate to Christianity? In Matthew 10:37 Jesus says "Anyone who loves his mother or father more than me is not worthy of me", this is the subordination of aspects of life that naturally effect people. In the book of Romans, Paul argues that "The 'law of the mind' is at war with 'the law of the members'", or that our minds are constantly fighting what we want to actually do. In 1st Corinthians 9:27 Paul continues to show Stoic teachings when he says "No, I beat my body and make it a slave so that after i have preached to others, I myself may not be disqualified for the prize", he is demonstrating that the desires of the body must be kept in check with the mind, or a warning against arrogance, which the "Anhaga" echos when he speaks of becoming too reckless in line 67. Therefore, with the examples listed previously it can be confirmed that the use of stoicism and elegiac lamentation are evident in The Wanderer and that they do not clash with a Christian doctrine.

Let me know what you think

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 3:35 p.m. 0 Comments

Ode to the Nice Guy

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~jenf/writing/rant04.html

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 8:28 p.m. 1 Comments

The Rising Silence

All these walls were never really there
Nor the ceiling, or the Chair
I'm eeking weeks of peace
I'm seeing the breeze weave the trees
I've survived the times of hiding behind eyelids
The sunset is still the rising silence

-don

posted by That Canadian Guy @ 3:44 p.m. 2 Comments