Plato once said that the nature of a poet is some sort of Divine Madness. That when the poet does what he does, he's possessed by a muse who inspires him to create with its Divine Madness. That's one of the things that stood out to me when I took Lit Crit, and I really like it. As creepy as it sounds, I like it.
Watching Homer Hiccolm is like a religious experience for me. Those guys really love what they do, and because of that, watching them make music is incredible.
Thank God for the artist.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Chapel Speech From Last Thursday
[*Note: I've refrained from posting this for a while, because I fear that some people will bring their own meanings to my text and pervert it's original intention which I think is clearly stated in the last paragraph. It was a legitimate concern for me after some of my encounters (though not all). After hearing Steven Moore in Chapel today, and talking with him after Chapel, I thought it might benefit some people who were really interested in re-reading what I said last thursday. I hope that this is a blessing to some of you. Peace!]
Now some of you may not know this, but I’m kinda famous. You see, when I graduated High School, my brother Greg and I (He attends University of Texas at San Antonio) were sitting around discussing how Great Texas was, and how Texas was so independent. Listing all sorts of accomplishments and proud medals that we could boast to other Nations. And building off of each other, we came up with this idea that Texas should Conquer the United States and Name Them Texas #2-50. When Facebook came out…. Of course, I mean, Who isn’t Going to Make that a Facebook Group? So we did. And now, we boast 100s of members…until Facebook went Global and people were having groups with hundreds of thousands and all of a sudden… 750 people wasn’t that big of a deal. The bottom line is that, a lot of people liked the idea that Texas would become independent and sort of… well not sort of…. We would become Independent and Conquer everyone else and then give them our name.
And I think to myself that as foolish and fun as this facebook group is… This idea is more familiar than I’d like to admit because I am, after all, a son of Independence; a child of America. And many of you are also children of America, who is renown for being the Ultimate Model of Independence. I recall reading in the Economist Last year issues of Developing Nations and throughout the article they spoke how America always serves as the “Cowboy”, the Lone Ranger, who walks into uncharted territories and immediately has the solution to fix the problem, and that solution requires America… and America only, and not anyone else.
At Urbana, Oscar Muriu contextualized 1 Corinthians 12 and spoke to us of the importance of the Global Church and how if we, as Christians, were to function properly as a body, then we would recognize the need we have for each other. That we would recognize that we should not be independent, but interdependent. Amidst his speech, he questioned whether America should be an exemplary model for the 2/3 world when we are ranked, according to Leonard Sweet’s “Soul Tsunami”, as the third largest Pagan Nation in the world only after India and China. That because we are unable to engage our own culture and break down walls of racial segregation, that perhaps to follow the Western Model of Christianity is to drink from a poisoned chalice. I think that Ronald J. Sider best sums it up in his book “The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience”, that
“To say there is a crisis of Disobedience in the evangelical world today is to dangerously understate the problem. Born Again Christians divorce at about the same rate as everyone else. Self Centered Materialism is seducing evangelicals and rapidly destroying our earlier, slightly more generous giving. Only 6% of born-again Christians tithe. Born-Agains Christians justify and engage in sexual promiscuity (both premarital sex and adultery) at astonishing rates. Racism and perhaps physical abuse of wives seem to be worse in Evangelical circles than elsewhere. This is scandalous behaviour for people who claim to be born-again by the Holy Spirit and to enjoy the very presence of the Risen Lord in their lives.”
And this led to me thinking, how in America, we as states, as cities, as neighborhoods, as churches, as ethnic groups, and even as individuals…. We have adopted the same mindset as our nation. How we truly are children of our Father, America. As ethnic groups, even on campus, we have fooled ourselves into believing that we do not need one another. We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.” How, as denominations, we say, “As long as I am surrounded my Church of Christ friends, my Baptist friends, my Anglican friends, my Catholic friends… That I am not in need of my brothers and sisters who worship any differently than I do.” And that as socio-economic groups, we say, “As long as I am surrounded by my upper white collar friends, my hard working blue collar friends, or by my lower income minimum wage friends… That I do not need anyone else.”
For people who behave as dangerously as Ronald Sider has pointed out, we would be very foolish to believe these lies. And as someone who is Multiethnic, like Carla, and myself, who is half latino/half anglo, I certainly know that I need all of my parts in order to function properly. Otherwise I might go crazy. For indeed, the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the Caucasian should say, "Because I am not black, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the Latino should say, "Because I am not Asian, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were Caucasian, where would the sense of soul and rhythm be? If the whole body were Latino, where would the sense of silence and a healthy diet be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The Baptist Church cannot say to the Catholic Church, "I don't need you!" And Church of Christ cannot say to the Anglican Church, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Go In Peace!
Now some of you may not know this, but I’m kinda famous. You see, when I graduated High School, my brother Greg and I (He attends University of Texas at San Antonio) were sitting around discussing how Great Texas was, and how Texas was so independent. Listing all sorts of accomplishments and proud medals that we could boast to other Nations. And building off of each other, we came up with this idea that Texas should Conquer the United States and Name Them Texas #2-50. When Facebook came out…. Of course, I mean, Who isn’t Going to Make that a Facebook Group? So we did. And now, we boast 100s of members…until Facebook went Global and people were having groups with hundreds of thousands and all of a sudden… 750 people wasn’t that big of a deal. The bottom line is that, a lot of people liked the idea that Texas would become independent and sort of… well not sort of…. We would become Independent and Conquer everyone else and then give them our name.
And I think to myself that as foolish and fun as this facebook group is… This idea is more familiar than I’d like to admit because I am, after all, a son of Independence; a child of America. And many of you are also children of America, who is renown for being the Ultimate Model of Independence. I recall reading in the Economist Last year issues of Developing Nations and throughout the article they spoke how America always serves as the “Cowboy”, the Lone Ranger, who walks into uncharted territories and immediately has the solution to fix the problem, and that solution requires America… and America only, and not anyone else.
At Urbana, Oscar Muriu contextualized 1 Corinthians 12 and spoke to us of the importance of the Global Church and how if we, as Christians, were to function properly as a body, then we would recognize the need we have for each other. That we would recognize that we should not be independent, but interdependent. Amidst his speech, he questioned whether America should be an exemplary model for the 2/3 world when we are ranked, according to Leonard Sweet’s “Soul Tsunami”, as the third largest Pagan Nation in the world only after India and China. That because we are unable to engage our own culture and break down walls of racial segregation, that perhaps to follow the Western Model of Christianity is to drink from a poisoned chalice. I think that Ronald J. Sider best sums it up in his book “The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience”, that
“To say there is a crisis of Disobedience in the evangelical world today is to dangerously understate the problem. Born Again Christians divorce at about the same rate as everyone else. Self Centered Materialism is seducing evangelicals and rapidly destroying our earlier, slightly more generous giving. Only 6% of born-again Christians tithe. Born-Agains Christians justify and engage in sexual promiscuity (both premarital sex and adultery) at astonishing rates. Racism and perhaps physical abuse of wives seem to be worse in Evangelical circles than elsewhere. This is scandalous behaviour for people who claim to be born-again by the Holy Spirit and to enjoy the very presence of the Risen Lord in their lives.”
And this led to me thinking, how in America, we as states, as cities, as neighborhoods, as churches, as ethnic groups, and even as individuals…. We have adopted the same mindset as our nation. How we truly are children of our Father, America. As ethnic groups, even on campus, we have fooled ourselves into believing that we do not need one another. We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.” How, as denominations, we say, “As long as I am surrounded my Church of Christ friends, my Baptist friends, my Anglican friends, my Catholic friends… That I am not in need of my brothers and sisters who worship any differently than I do.” And that as socio-economic groups, we say, “As long as I am surrounded by my upper white collar friends, my hard working blue collar friends, or by my lower income minimum wage friends… That I do not need anyone else.”
For people who behave as dangerously as Ronald Sider has pointed out, we would be very foolish to believe these lies. And as someone who is Multiethnic, like Carla, and myself, who is half latino/half anglo, I certainly know that I need all of my parts in order to function properly. Otherwise I might go crazy. For indeed, the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the Caucasian should say, "Because I am not black, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the Latino should say, "Because I am not Asian, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were Caucasian, where would the sense of soul and rhythm be? If the whole body were Latino, where would the sense of silence and a healthy diet be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The Baptist Church cannot say to the Catholic Church, "I don't need you!" And Church of Christ cannot say to the Anglican Church, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Go In Peace!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
An Apology...
Yesterday morning, I spoke in chapel addressing issues of racial reconciliation. I talked about how we all needed one another. Immediately after it was over, I was addressed by not one, but several of my peers concerning a comment I made during my speech yesterday. The comment went something like this,
“We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.”
The fear from many students was that I was purposely communicating that the KKK and the Black Panthers were equal but opposite organizations. In other words, that the KKK and the Black Panthers were pretty much the same thing, just with different colored people in each group. As well, the fear was that I was placing those two organizations on the same plane. To the fear and legitimate concern of many of my peers, whom I deeply respect, I extend my greatest apologies for poorly communicating my message of reconciliation.
Historically, it is understood that the KKK was renown for its hate crimes that were born out of arrogance, pride, and a superficial sense of superiority. And on the other hand, the Black Panthers were a reactionary movement to hate crimes fleshed out by organizations like the KKK. The idea that I was trying to convey yesterday was that within ethnic groups, even within Ethnic Organizations who have good intentions (of course, I’m speaking of the Black Panthers… and not the KKK), there are those who often take things beyond restoring their own cultural identity, and find themselves in an angry place where they completely separate themselves from anyone else. Even within my own peoples, the Latinos, the Xicanos… there is an organizations called Mecha, which pulls for the advancement of all Latinos and Xicanos because of much socio-economic oppression and social injustices that have been had in recent years, as well as throughout history. They’re a good organization with a lot of good goals. My own brother has been involved with the San Antonio Chapter, and many of the others involved are really good people… However, across the country there have been cases of those who have lost sight of Mecha’s true aims and these type of people within Mecha have begun walking down paths of potentially harmful activism. They are the ones who carry the Machismo attitude that says, “I do not need anyone other than my Xicano" And not Chicano with a Ch, but with an X… because for many, there is a great difference.
To all those offended by my comment from yesterday, please know that this was not my intention at all and I am deeply sorry for poorly communicating. The KKK and the Black Panthers are two remarkably different entities within history. The KKK dealt a great deal of hate crimes and racial oppression, while the Panthers strove to justly respond to this type of oppression.
I hope, that as a result, many of you will learn my heart for racial reconciliation. It is not my aim to solve anyone else’s problems, only my own. However, I feel that as a brother to all of you, whether you are Latino, Black, White, Native America, or Asian… I should invest my time in creating opportunities for us to dialogue about all of these issues.
For me, yesterday was a prime example of how I needed those who are different from me. Though I had not intended to, I poorly communicated my message, and with the help of many people (Black, Lebanese, White, Asian, and Latino), I heard the legitimate concerns and fears of many people in this auditorium. Fears and concerns that hurt me because I feared that I had created yet another barrier for all of us... but with the help of my brothers and sisters who were both alike, and different than I am… communication was had and feelings were honestly expressed. For this, I thank you. For without all of you, I would have been ignorant of your needs. Let us continue in the quest for Racial Reconciliation for the sake of the Gospel. God Bless You.
“We have seen groups like the KKK, and the Black Panthers, and though we do not adopt their hate and anger… we do adopt their separatist behavior, that says, “As long as I am comfortably surrounded by my caucasian friends, or my black friends, my latino friends, or my Asian friends… That I am not in need of my other ethnic brothers and sisters.”
The fear from many students was that I was purposely communicating that the KKK and the Black Panthers were equal but opposite organizations. In other words, that the KKK and the Black Panthers were pretty much the same thing, just with different colored people in each group. As well, the fear was that I was placing those two organizations on the same plane. To the fear and legitimate concern of many of my peers, whom I deeply respect, I extend my greatest apologies for poorly communicating my message of reconciliation.
Historically, it is understood that the KKK was renown for its hate crimes that were born out of arrogance, pride, and a superficial sense of superiority. And on the other hand, the Black Panthers were a reactionary movement to hate crimes fleshed out by organizations like the KKK. The idea that I was trying to convey yesterday was that within ethnic groups, even within Ethnic Organizations who have good intentions (of course, I’m speaking of the Black Panthers… and not the KKK), there are those who often take things beyond restoring their own cultural identity, and find themselves in an angry place where they completely separate themselves from anyone else. Even within my own peoples, the Latinos, the Xicanos… there is an organizations called Mecha, which pulls for the advancement of all Latinos and Xicanos because of much socio-economic oppression and social injustices that have been had in recent years, as well as throughout history. They’re a good organization with a lot of good goals. My own brother has been involved with the San Antonio Chapter, and many of the others involved are really good people… However, across the country there have been cases of those who have lost sight of Mecha’s true aims and these type of people within Mecha have begun walking down paths of potentially harmful activism. They are the ones who carry the Machismo attitude that says, “I do not need anyone other than my Xicano" And not Chicano with a Ch, but with an X… because for many, there is a great difference.
To all those offended by my comment from yesterday, please know that this was not my intention at all and I am deeply sorry for poorly communicating. The KKK and the Black Panthers are two remarkably different entities within history. The KKK dealt a great deal of hate crimes and racial oppression, while the Panthers strove to justly respond to this type of oppression.
I hope, that as a result, many of you will learn my heart for racial reconciliation. It is not my aim to solve anyone else’s problems, only my own. However, I feel that as a brother to all of you, whether you are Latino, Black, White, Native America, or Asian… I should invest my time in creating opportunities for us to dialogue about all of these issues.
For me, yesterday was a prime example of how I needed those who are different from me. Though I had not intended to, I poorly communicated my message, and with the help of many people (Black, Lebanese, White, Asian, and Latino), I heard the legitimate concerns and fears of many people in this auditorium. Fears and concerns that hurt me because I feared that I had created yet another barrier for all of us... but with the help of my brothers and sisters who were both alike, and different than I am… communication was had and feelings were honestly expressed. For this, I thank you. For without all of you, I would have been ignorant of your needs. Let us continue in the quest for Racial Reconciliation for the sake of the Gospel. God Bless You.
Monday, January 15, 2007
You want to be Significant?
This is probably my favourite moment in all of Dr. King's speeches. He is addressing the story in the Gospels when James and John secretly go to Jesus and ask him if they can sit on the right and left of Jesus when his Kingdom is established...
"...I want you to see what Jesus was really saying. What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It's very interesting. One would have thought that Jesus would have condemned them. One would have thought that Jesus would have said, 'You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?'
But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, 'Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be.' But he reordered priorities. And he said, 'Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do'...
And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
"...I want you to see what Jesus was really saying. What was the answer that Jesus gave these men? It's very interesting. One would have thought that Jesus would have condemned them. One would have thought that Jesus would have said, 'You are out of your place. You are selfish. Why would you raise such a question?'
But that isn't what Jesus did; he did something altogether different. He said in substance, 'Oh, I see, you want to be first. You want to be great. You want to be important. You want to be significant. Well, you ought to be. If you're going to be my disciple, you must be.' But he reordered priorities. And he said, 'Yes, don't give up this instinct. It's a good instinct if you use it right. It's a good instinct if you don't distort it and pervert it. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. That is what I want you to do'...
And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.
And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Incredible
I watched Pan's Labyrinth tonight with my friend Jamal and some fellow ACU Students...
Perhaps the best thing about my trip to Austin.
Perhaps the best thing about my trip to Austin.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Heartbeat Roughdraft...
So I came up with a really amateur design for the logo for my non-profit called "Heartbeat"... Feedback would be much appreciated, cause this is definitely not the final product.
Also, if you're interested in using your talents to help me lay some ground work for this project, let me know because I would really appreciate some help...
Also, if you're interested in using your talents to help me lay some ground work for this project, let me know because I would really appreciate some help...
Friday, January 05, 2007
"Come to the Dark Side..."
So I went to the movies last night with my mom, my brother, Jennifer, Derran, Peter, and Danny... Yep, a big group. However, the funniest part was when my mom, my brother, and I went to buy the tickets... cause my ghetto side came out and worked out some free tickets.
Here's the Story:
I walk up to the register and there's this asian girl who has just walked up at the same time, and, of course, I let her go first. "I'll take one for 'The Good Shepherd' at 10:45", she says. To which the lady replies, "I'm sorry, but we've decided to cancel that showing so just choose another one and it'll be on the house."
Immediately, I'm thinking, "Free Movies?"
So the girl chooses her movie, and moves out of the way. At this time, my mom and brother walk up behind me (as they were dragging a little behind), unbeknownst to anything other than the fact that we are going to see 'Night at the Museum'.
"Oh man, you are guys are out of 'The Good Shepherd'?" I say. "Yes Sir, sorry about that. Just go ahead and choose another movie and it'll be on the house. In fact, just go ahead and walk in."
"What's going on?" My brother asked.
So I say, "They're out of 'The Good Shepherd', so we're just gonna go and see 'Night at the Museum'."
It's bad, I know...
Here's the Story:
I walk up to the register and there's this asian girl who has just walked up at the same time, and, of course, I let her go first. "I'll take one for 'The Good Shepherd' at 10:45", she says. To which the lady replies, "I'm sorry, but we've decided to cancel that showing so just choose another one and it'll be on the house."
Immediately, I'm thinking, "Free Movies?"
So the girl chooses her movie, and moves out of the way. At this time, my mom and brother walk up behind me (as they were dragging a little behind), unbeknownst to anything other than the fact that we are going to see 'Night at the Museum'.
"Oh man, you are guys are out of 'The Good Shepherd'?" I say. "Yes Sir, sorry about that. Just go ahead and choose another movie and it'll be on the house. In fact, just go ahead and walk in."
"What's going on?" My brother asked.
So I say, "They're out of 'The Good Shepherd', so we're just gonna go and see 'Night at the Museum'."
It's bad, I know...
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Things I'd Like to Do This Year
1.) Write a one-man stage play.
2.) Lay the ground work for a non-profit organization called "Heartbeat" and an Urban Development Fund.
3.) Live in a slum community for seven weeks.
4.) Make the Hip Hop Community even stronger.
5.) Make A's
6.) Get something published.
7.) Last, but not least... Have lots of fun with my Family and Friends.
p.s. I got a new cell phone. It provides treatment for 100 pregnant women to prevent the transmission of HIV from the mothers to the children. It also provides anti-retroviral treatment for one month to a person living with HIV. I am a proud supporter of The Red Campaign.
2.) Lay the ground work for a non-profit organization called "Heartbeat" and an Urban Development Fund.
3.) Live in a slum community for seven weeks.
4.) Make the Hip Hop Community even stronger.
5.) Make A's
6.) Get something published.
7.) Last, but not least... Have lots of fun with my Family and Friends.
p.s. I got a new cell phone. It provides treatment for 100 pregnant women to prevent the transmission of HIV from the mothers to the children. It also provides anti-retroviral treatment for one month to a person living with HIV. I am a proud supporter of The Red Campaign.
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