love, love, love
as i said yesterday, i start school tomorrow, and i can't say that i'm ready. but that's all right. i am excited for the classes i'm taking and for the class i'm helping with. i'd be even more excited if i knew i'd have time to do everything i want to do this semester - i've made a list of things to do, and i guess the scope of it all may be much longer than one semester. but maybe. foolish hopefulness in this instance isn't such a bad thing.
today i received an email from a good friend that was great. the email was something i appreciated a lot, but that's hardly the point of me writing this for others to read. what is important is this quote she included, and i think it's worth your time to read and reflect on it. particularly because martin luther king, jr. should be honored today and most days, in much the same way that rosa parks, gandhi, and numerous other people should be, for using the pragmatic, active approach to love, not only in their personal lives, but in their public lives. here's king on love and power.
What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love... I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go.
king's words are amazing, for me more powerful even than oft-quoted preambles to the dream speech. just as powerful is the dedication to love and life i've found in my interactions with my favorite professors and mentors. one of them has a book coming out this spring called love, love, love. professor taliaferro is one of the smartest and funniest people i've met, and also one of the most caring and helpful. i'm glad to know him, and i can't wait to read this book. here's the quote listed on amazon from the book's introduction.
Three days before his death, my father, at 95 years old, held hands with me and repeated the word Love three times. The essays were written over five years. All are written with the aim of combining humor with seriousness.
in a similar vein, at least with a similar title, is a song by the mountain goats, of the album sunset tree. i'd listened to them some before at the request of my brother, but he gave me this cd for christmas, and i must admit i've listened to it tons of times recently. there are a number of good songs on the album, both musically and lyrically. this one is the most striking given the present topic of this note. i recommend getting the song and listening to it, then just sitting for five minutes and thinking about it, and the rest of these thoughts. perhaps thinking about love, love, love for five minutes each day is the most important thing people can do. in the powerful way, never anemic. i could tell stories of what people do for love--real, powerful, active, pragmatic love. but i think that for now, reflect and write your own stories. i'll do the same.
love, love, love by the mountain goats
king saul fell on his sword
when it all went wrong
and joseph's brother sold him down the river for a song
and sonny liston rubbed some tigerbalm in his glove
some things you do for money
and some you do for love love love
raskalnikov felt sick
but he couldn't say why
when he saw his face reflected
in his victim's twinkling eye
some things you do for money
and some you'll do for fun
but the things you do for love
are gonna come back to you one by one
love love is gonna lead you by the hand
into a white and soundless place
now we see this
as in a mirror dimly
then we shall see each other
face to face
and way out in seattle
young kurt cobain
snuck out to the garden
put a bullet in his brain
snakes in the grass beneath out feet
rain in the clouds above
some moments last forever
and some flare out with love love love
today i received an email from a good friend that was great. the email was something i appreciated a lot, but that's hardly the point of me writing this for others to read. what is important is this quote she included, and i think it's worth your time to read and reflect on it. particularly because martin luther king, jr. should be honored today and most days, in much the same way that rosa parks, gandhi, and numerous other people should be, for using the pragmatic, active approach to love, not only in their personal lives, but in their public lives. here's king on love and power.
What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love... I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go.
king's words are amazing, for me more powerful even than oft-quoted preambles to the dream speech. just as powerful is the dedication to love and life i've found in my interactions with my favorite professors and mentors. one of them has a book coming out this spring called love, love, love. professor taliaferro is one of the smartest and funniest people i've met, and also one of the most caring and helpful. i'm glad to know him, and i can't wait to read this book. here's the quote listed on amazon from the book's introduction.
Three days before his death, my father, at 95 years old, held hands with me and repeated the word Love three times. The essays were written over five years. All are written with the aim of combining humor with seriousness.
in a similar vein, at least with a similar title, is a song by the mountain goats, of the album sunset tree. i'd listened to them some before at the request of my brother, but he gave me this cd for christmas, and i must admit i've listened to it tons of times recently. there are a number of good songs on the album, both musically and lyrically. this one is the most striking given the present topic of this note. i recommend getting the song and listening to it, then just sitting for five minutes and thinking about it, and the rest of these thoughts. perhaps thinking about love, love, love for five minutes each day is the most important thing people can do. in the powerful way, never anemic. i could tell stories of what people do for love--real, powerful, active, pragmatic love. but i think that for now, reflect and write your own stories. i'll do the same.
love, love, love by the mountain goats
king saul fell on his sword
when it all went wrong
and joseph's brother sold him down the river for a song
and sonny liston rubbed some tigerbalm in his glove
some things you do for money
and some you do for love love love
raskalnikov felt sick
but he couldn't say why
when he saw his face reflected
in his victim's twinkling eye
some things you do for money
and some you'll do for fun
but the things you do for love
are gonna come back to you one by one
love love is gonna lead you by the hand
into a white and soundless place
now we see this
as in a mirror dimly
then we shall see each other
face to face
and way out in seattle
young kurt cobain
snuck out to the garden
put a bullet in his brain
snakes in the grass beneath out feet
rain in the clouds above
some moments last forever
and some flare out with love love love
posted by Brett Werner at
12:48 AM
1 Comments:
yea, its pretty dissapointing when you don't have room for everything in your scheduel that you want to take. i'm facing some hard decisions concerning my scheduel for next year; i have to have it figured out by tomorrow morning. o well. good luck with everything.
-SB
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