"It’s the sound of her voice that lingers in my mind. That little girl voice is something she doesn’t offer up to just any man... Hearing her voice was somehow even more intimate than the feel of her body." (>>)
"No. I’m bad. I do bad things." (>>)
"I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you, and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are." (>>)
The Future Freaks Me Out is a damn fine song and you can download it here.
"Our hearts are restless until they rest in you." (>>)
Whether or not you donated to the tsunami relief effort in the days/weeks after it happened, please consider donating now. There's still a lot of people that need help.
"Loneliness is something that happens to us, but I think it is something we can move ourselves out of. ... If loving other people is a bit of heaven then certainly isolation is a bit of hell, and to that degree, here on earth, we decide in which state we would like to live." (>>)
"The bulletin read like a brochure for Amway. They were always saying how life-changing some conference was going to be. Life-changing? What does that mean? It sounded very suspicious. I wish they would just tell it to me straight rather than trying to sell me on everything. I felt like I got bombarded with commercials all week and then went to church and got even more." (>>)
"It is important to recognize that nowhere does God give Job an answer to his questions about the meaning of suffering. The answer seems to be that there is no answer. The only answer resides in the conviction that God cares for those who suffer, even comes to them and is with them in the suffering. And Job's final reply seems to say that this is enough. As another example of the search for wisdom in the biblical tradition, Job teaches us not so much about why we suffer but about how we must relate to God in our suffering." (>>)
"For so much of my life I had been defending Christianity because I thought to admit that we have done any wrong was to discredit the religious system as a whole, but it isn't a religious system, it is people following Christ; and the important thing to do, the right thing to do, was to apologize for getting in the way of Jesus." (>>)
" 'Is it true you can say anything you want out here? Anything at all?' " (>>)
"My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don't really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure out that there are some guys who don't believe in God and they can prove he doesn't exist, and some other guys who do believe in God and they can prove he does exist, and the argument stopped being about God a long time ago and now it's about who is smarter, and honestly I don't care. I don't believe I will ever walk away from God for intellectual reasons. Who knows anything anyway? If I walk away from God, and please pray that I never do, I will walk away for social reasons, identity reasons, deep emotional reasons, the same reasons that any of us do anything" (>>)
Ok, so Ralph spanked y'all in the second playlist quiz, ending up with 14 points. He wins a mix CD with all of the songs. The rest of you win the MP3s below and the satisfaction of knowing that you're not as much of a geek as Ralph is. Speaking of which, he's going to post his own playlist quiz on his blog in a few days, so be sure to check that out if you're interested in more painful humiliation. I know I am.
1 Point
1) Social Distortion - Story of My Life
2) Switchfoot - Amy's Song
3) Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman
4) Simple Plan - I'd Do Anything
5) Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
2 Points
6) Five Iron Frenzy - Marty
7) Tupac Shakur - Changes
8) Nichole Nordeman - Lookin' at You (Lookin' at Me)
9) Ben Folds Five - Uncle Walter
10) Jill Phillips - You Don't Belong Here
3 Points
11) Movies with Heroes - Someday
12) Plankeye - You Are For Me
13) All - Long Distance
14) The Descendents - Lucky
15) The Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl
4 Points
16) Kathleen Edwards - Six O'Clock News
17) The Drifters - Up on the Roof
18) Bliss - Fairytales and Castles
19) Common Rider - Classics of Love
20) Weezer - I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
"All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn." (>>)
"It looks so great before you enter into this relationship with Jesus and then you get in and it's like, 'it's not like they promised...' Our faith seems to be a let-down." (>>) [MP3]
