Agony inside the dying head

When I look at these photos of Michael, I am convinced he was mentally and physically unable to perform the 50 concerts AEG had scheduled for him in London. He looks so exhausted and emotionally wounded. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, this poor man was in an incredible amount of pain. I can’t help but remember the words to one of his songs… I am the damned, I am the dead, I am the agony inside the dying head.

Bless you, Michael. I hope you are resting in eternal peace.

Another reason to support gay marriage: Married men live longer

According to researchers at the University of Louisville, married men live an average of eight to seventeen years longer than unmarried men. This is due to better health benefits and higher income, as well as pressure from their spouses to have routine checkups and seek faster medical treatment after heart attacks.

It would stand to reason that the same would be true for married same-sex couples. My partner and I certainly look out for one another. He reminds me to get my cholesterol checked and to exercise (although I usually don’t listen), and I nag him about eating a whole box of Girl Scout cookies.

All joking aside, when something happens that needs medical attention, we each make sure the other gets what he needs. That’s what you do when you care about someone.

As more and more of the arguments against same-sex marriage are proven to have no merit, maybe this is a good argument to use for gay marriage. Why deny people something that might provide them with a longer, healthier life?

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Pink Cascade Weeping Peach Tree

I ran across this Pink Cascade Weeping Peach tree (Prunus persica) at a local garden store this afternoon and had to have it. It is planted near a blooming Redbud, and the combination of the two colors takes my breath away.

I am human

Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto (I am a man, I consider nothing that is human alien to me).

- Terence (ancient Roman playwright)

Ecclesiastes

Although I have heard many of the verses from The Book of Ecclesiastes over the years, I don’t believe I ever read it in its entirety until last night. My curiosity was piqued by a mention of the book on an internet forum, so I read all twelve chapters before going to sleep. I was so astounded that I literally kissed the pages before closing the Bible.

Author Thomas Wolfe described it this way: “[O]f all I have ever seen or learned, that book seems to me the noblest, the wisest, and the most powerful expression of man’s life upon this earth — and also the highest flower of poetry, eloquence, and truth. I am not given to dogmatic judgments in the matter of literary creation, but if I had to make one I could say that Ecclesiastes is the greatest single piece of writing I have ever known, and the wisdom expressed in it the most lasting and profound.”

I liked the repetitive descriptions of life as “meaningless” and “chasing after the wind,” and several of the verses struck me as particularly wise.

Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 – What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 – There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.

Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 – For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

Spring 2012

Our lawn has come alive over the past few days due to plenty of rain and unseasonably warm temperatures. I finally lugged the camera out of its case this afternoon and snapped some photos. A rain storm had just passed through and it felt like heaven outside. I walked around simultaneously snapping photos and thanking Jesus for the beauty around me.