Reflections

28.8.14

Alternate day – fixed working schedule
Alternate day – freestyle self-learning, contemplation & entertainment
Work – at least 50% of total time
Indulgence – not more than 25%
At least once a week – newspaper & Bible – 1 hour each

Barbell

Bivouac

Blather Smatter

Transfix

Pulchritudinous

Pica

“Hear me, O LORD, when I cry out! Have mercy on me and answer me!” (Psalms 27:7 NET)

2.9.14

Contiguous

Hatshepsut – female Pharaoh!

Hatchet Tomahawk

Machete

Environ Ring

Recumb

Besot
Repugn Impugn
Pugnacious Pungent

Alliteration
Consonance

Ursprachte

Osculate

Bletting

Sweven

Rapt

He says, “Stop your striving and recognise that I am God! I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!” (Psalms 46:10 NET)

Credence

Distinguish:
Non-existence
&
Absence

Wist

Health => prosperity => freedom => joy

Personhood > individuality
Radical contingency!

28.8.14
– What does spirit (i.e GOD) have to do with materiality, sociality & ecology?
– Subtle evolution, gradual aging, rapid decline & sudden death
– But what about the Bible, Joe??
– What have I become?
Neither a mystic nor a scholar, neither a missionary nor a prophet, neither a pastor nor a revolutionary. What am I – a sage-minister??
– Stretch the hamstring & strengthen the quadriceps. Not the other way around.
– “What have you gained from all this isolation, Joe?”
Neither a monk nor a socialite 😦
Fuck these weddings! I’d rather miss out on some valuable socializing than risk a few hours of pure bullshit……
Maybe I should go just as an observer. But this ain’t anything new. Mmm… Yes, that’s how it seems, but there is always something new!
– Maybe it’s time for me to shut up, forever.
– How do these free apps make money?

29.8.14
– Even in this balance-by-extreme-alternation lifestyle, it is balance, moderation & structure that rule! What would it be like if spontaneity/whim/ impulse was allowed to be the organizing principle??
– If you cannot live with (some degree of) unfreedom, then you’re not (fully) free.
– Movies:
“Joe”
Hmmm… Is the name just incidental? 😉
Why are the movies that I choose without the elaborate research usually better than the others more thoroughly planned?!
– Live, suffer, try, blog-your-heart-out & die……
Wow! That sounds nice.
Right?
– So how did you feel thinking about it?
How did you feel when you knew you were gonna do it?
How did you feel just before you did it?
How did it feel when doin’ it?
How did it feel just after doin’ it?
How does it feel now when you look back at it?
– I don’t deserve her!
She doesn’t deserve me either.
That’s one of the most useless words around!
– It was so good meeting Danny after such a long time!

31.8.14
– Preaching as performance
– What is possible with man is impossible with GOD!
– “Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet unborn may praise the LORD.”
– “…when the peoples gather together, & kingdoms, to praise the LORD.”
– “they (the heavens & the earth) will perish… they will all wear out like a garment. Thou changest them like a garment!”
– Our lives seem to be so long & constant, but your presence & power O LORD, seems to be so unreal & fleeting……
– “You are my world”
Vs.
“Be thou my vision”
– The O.T is divine revelation for mankind in its childhood. And the N.T is for the stage of youth. So what is GOD’s WORD for adulthood??
– “Full members”
– “Continue to speak to us even through the act of offering.”
– The king of love
– If I am (to be) His slave, then He is (already) my slave too!
– “Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.”
– Family Sunday in church
– Does GOD really want us to fear & serve him?
– What does ‘Christian worker’ mean?
– Your presence, prayer, gifts & service
– There is no such thing as a ‘Christian family’, there is only a family made up of individual Christians.
– Marriage & family seminar
– Lay Activities Committee
– Fellowship group
Ministry team
– Parents as sponsors
– “Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign.”

1.9.14
Movies:
“American Hustle”

Wanderings

21.8.14

– Post-exile: Zerubbabel » Esther » Ezra » Nehemiah

Rebuilding: Temple (national religion/culture) » Walls (city) » Houses (individual)

– Glamour/fashion/ad/ gaming industry, etc. – ok as hobbies, but professional??

22.8.14

– What you actually want

Vs.

What you should want

– Time for me to jail-break (myself from) the iPad!

– The evil denial of our physicality, affectivity & therefore also our sexuality. Time to put an end to this bullshit once & for all!

– Alternate:

Get things done

&

Stop & smell the roses

– Would you call your own father, a fool or a clown, straight to his face?!

– Repentance, unrepentance & rerepentance

– “What have you gained from all this isolation, Joe??”

– Pride – they don’t deserve my company!

– “Please pray that my daughter will get a good job & husband – preferably in Bangalore or Singapore, not Chennai…”

What is the great difference between their worldliness & my own selfishness??

– Time for Theology to pluck its head out of the ground, & take biology, psychology & culture seriously!

– The dead are the most consistent, secure & content of all people!

– From TV to music,

From internet to reading,

From mind to body,

From self-absorption to socializing……

– Saints:

Prophet-martyr

Missionary-revolutionary

Mystic-contemplative

Friend-minister

Holy-celibate

Sage-scholar

Which one are you?

– Humanism > philanthropy

Can (love of) man survive without (faith in) GOD?

23.8.14

– MPTF:

“Boiled Beans on Toast”

Never really took off…

– Movies:

“Payanam” (Tamil)

Mmm… Maybe being in the military is not all that bad (unchristian)!

– Distinguish:

Military

&

Army

– MPTF:

“Colour Blind”

Fuck this linguistic bullshit!

24.8.14

– Movies:

“Red Riding Hood”

– Movies:

“Ip Man”

“The Grandmaster”

– Comparing theology/revelation to the progressive evolution of the parenting dynamic:

1. Childhood – “Do as I say because I say so.”

2. Youth – “I will help you understand why you should follow my advice.”

3. Adult – “Go, with all that I have taught you, & take it forward in your own unique way! I am always with you in spirit……”

4. Parent – pass on your legacy to the next generation so that they in turn will take your accomplishments to the next future step of development.

26.8.14

– Remediate

– What should be special about my life is not what I did or said, but how I lived and who I was – qualitatively different!

27.8.14

– 3 kinds of days:

1. Working/course

2. Relaxation/ entertainment

3. Exploration/creativity

– The best (& only) way to save mankind and transform the world is by being still! If we want new life, all we have to do is just (stop trying to not) die……

– I am gradually but surely becoming a Buddhist! So can I still be a Christian?

– Thomas Merton’s post-monkhood love-affair!

– Instead of solitude & contemplation being small islands scattered here & there in my lifescape, filled with the ceaseless waves of planning & activity, they should be the calm ocean upon which all other islands of work are submerged & suspended…

Whatever happened to my dream/goal of the still, deep & full life??

– Creativity, compassion & courage

– My ultra-ordinary life!

– Boredom is not that bad. Why are people so scared of it?!

– Naked, nailed & alone

The Crucifix of Christ and human freedom/dignity

– Are the Quakers ‘liberals’?

– How do I live humanely (meaningfully & pusposefully) in a world where little children die in accidents, & are raped/killed?? Can my life make any difference (for better or for worse) at all?

In spite of the great persons, events & movements in history, look at what the world has come to today……!

Is this unrealistically pessimistic?

22.8.14

Jn. 10:30 – is this also an “I AM” saying?

Men are cruel/greedy & women are manipulative/jealous.
Which is worse?

Uproarious

Bias (fabric)

Caravansary Khan

Buccaneer

Subroutine

Hullabaloo

Cherry-pick

Only the one who is no longer afraid of death is free to live fully!

Today – 32C, but feels like 38C!

Totem Xat

Davy Jones’ Locker

Suspicion
Vs.
Hospitality

26.8.14

Influenced by, and influenced……

Ramblings

15.8.14

– Metro Plus Theater Fest:

Macbeth (Manipuri!)

Where is Modi in all of this?

16.8.14

– Man vs. Time

Man vs. Space

Man vs. Matter

When will you learn to “stop kicking against the goads”, Joe??

Dance with, instead of fighting against!

– When you prioritize your values, remember to distinguish between means & ends.

– The rare handful of persons who are too far ahead of their time are great blessings to the world, but they themselves are cursed!

17.8.14

– Are we supposed to expect a tide of saffron terror to be let loose in the near future, in this great country??

18.8.14

– Movies:

The Wolverine

If you “had to” kill your own beloved, would you?

– Movies:

The Exterminating Angel (Spanish)

Why this title??

Surrealist documentary – one of the best movies I have ever seen?!

So does history hold the key to unlocking the future?

I know where they are gonna get stuck next – traffic? or office?

19.8.14

– I think it’s enough if I finish the dual M.A in 4 years, instead of the previously planned 2…

– Adobe

– Galleon

– Salamander

20.8.14

– 916 gold = 91.6% = BIS = 22K

– Exercise – cardio, stretching, strengthening, posture & breathing

– Myuzik

– HOW you make money is more important than how MUCH money you make.

– “Hey… One small advice: Don’t immediately get into anything else after you leave this job. Just spend a few months doing nothing. It would be essential to get back in touch with your self!”

– The teacher is the student who is (primarily) self-taught. All other students are just students, not teachers.

– Do you want to travel to all the (attractive) countries of the world before you die?

– So what is the real cause/reason/motivation/purpose behind this major change/decision?

– Ugly/bland » pleasant/agreeable » attractive/beautiful » gorgeous/stunning!

– What is the opposite of reify?

Digitize?

– Yes, but sometimes (& in some ways), money is more precious than even time!

– I kill insects only inside my house.