what i've been waiting for

wonderfully warm evening sitting shirtless in my patio drinking beer.  I think this may just turn in to an Advent reflection....

Can you just picture this?

Ever read a description of contained laughter this great?  Better yet, have you ever laughed this way?
  
"Snorts; belly cramps; face cramps; ripping sounds in sinuses..."

"Quaking bodies; bulging neck veins; flecks of pressurized snot shooting out noses..."

Came across these while reading "The Brothers K" by David James Duncan.  Really great book.  It was actually a gift from a good friend to my wife but she was in the middle of another book so I jumped on it!  Sorry about that Adriana.

So...maybe you can take a moment to dwell in the memory that may have come to mind of experiencing laughter in this way .  I'm sure at the very least it will bring a smirk or smile to your face.

Hope we all get an opportunity to laugh in this manner sometime soon.  Makes life better i think.

Hey, where'd he go?

You know how sometimes we become so familiarized with certain things that we lose sight of the importance, beauty and complexity of the details?

I learned some new and cool things the other night in class that made me think of this.

Ever stop and ask yourself why the author of the gospel of Matthew did not include into his account Jesus' ascension into heaven?  As part of the synoptic gospels, if Matthew used as a reference and text Mark's gospel (the first gospel written of the 3), why are we left with an open tomb and no ascension if the gospel of Mark (and Luke) contains Jesus' ascension?

You know, I don't actually think I ever noticed the omission of this "little" detail.  Amazing!  How many times have I read the gospel of Matthew or at least jumped to the ending! ;-)  It's my opinion that asking ourselves these and other types of questions and reflecting on them can lead us to experience a deeper faith in God. 

So why leave out such an important detail in the story?  Could we say that this omission points to some of the questions the early questions were asking themselves, namely where is Jesus, where is God now that they could not see him any longer?  What did it mean and look like to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth and a developing community of believers when they could not see or be with Him anymore?

Interestingly if we look back to chapter 25 and even chapter 28 of Matthew we can see and attempt to answer this foundational question by the early community of Christians.  Jesus is to be found in the marginalized, poor and outcast and in the community of followers, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Of course there are other ways of interpreting and looking at these accounts.  But I thought this was a very coherent, solid and interesting point and made for a good class discussion.

Every Time

My daughter Cora and I have been on an Alicia Keys binge as of late.  Every time I hear one particular song on her most recent album The Element of Freedom my eyes well up with tears.  The song is called "How it Feels to Fly".  I know it might sound sappy and all that...

But I guess this is because when I hear the song, I think of a few particular friends that I wish could know and experience some of the themes of the song:  self-confidence, freedom, joy of life and the good in taking risks sometimes.

If you do end up listening to the song perhaps you could let it guide your prayers for someone today.  Someone that's longing but unable kiss the sky with their dreams, hopes and imagination.

Oh Robert...

Dear Mr. Bob Marley,

I think this might be asking too much but if somehow you could come back we could sure use some more of your songs of revolution, redemption and love these days.  As I have recently learned from experience, it can be hard on the self-esteem to watch yourself on video or hear yourself speak.  Nevertheless, here is a video of you performing one of your songs.

Thanks for this gift you gave to the world!

Sincerely,
Walter

My man crush

I have a friend who lives in India.  Dude is a cool cat.  Musician, singer-songwriter.  Amazing voice.  The thing is there is a ton of competition from the opposite sex.  Oh well...

Also, I want Jason Statham's body (Snatch, The Transporter 1,2,3 and others).  Dude's got it goin' in a mean way.  My wife says she loves my body just the way it is, though.  I don't know.  Should I believe her?

Fists fights

You ever been in one?  Just the other day I was remembering the last time I was in a fist fight.  Not sure why i thought of it.  I was in 6th or 7th grade. It was after an afternoon of hanging out with my friend Tony Ortiz.  We were in the street either kicking a soccer ball or throwing a football and for some reason we started arguing.  It got heated and I must have said something that really pissed him off because out of nowhere he punched me in the nose.  He was a year or two older so I decided it would be better not to respond with a punch but I do remember it hurting like crazy!  

So I guess you wouldn't really call this a fight since I was the only one who got punched.  Oh well...

So fists fights...ever been in one?