Life

What is this life that we should know?
Whether standing still, or to and fro
We wake each day and start anew
Do we live each minute as precious few?
Our breath is given to sing and shout
But what of life do we sing about?
Do we laugh and play to end of days
Or lift our hearts with shouts of praise?
Do we groan and wail for life's dark end?
Do we stiffen up, refuse to bend?
Do we look and learn from our mistakes?
Or stumble on with cuts and scrapes?
We ask ourselves "Is it worth the fight?"
Or give up now and loose our sight?
Do we lay our lives for those we love?
Or perhaps a man not worthy of?
From deep within our life springs flow
We quench our thirst and begin to grow.
This source of life is One so sweet,
His hands were pierced, His side, His feet.
He dines with us and wipes our tears,
And calms the sea, destroys our fears.
He takes us in, a ragged few
And makes us shine, afresh and new!
For this is life a gift indeed
For thirst a drink, hunger feed
For what would be a sweeter sound
But to hear the song of sinners found

Reflections...

What you are about to read might not make a whole lot of sense... I'm not even sure what it is I want to say.  Nevertheless, I feel compelled to write.  So here goes.

Have you ever taken a step back from your life and tried to understand presumably the things that you don't fully grasp?  I sit and reflect and realize that my whole paradigm might be "out of whack". 

I wonder; why do I pursue the things I pursue?  And please understand that this is not the typical dramatic ponderings of an emotional musician. I really want to evaluate the things and people in my life.  What drives me?  What excites me?  What do I really, truly want from this life?  I think that any normal person would attempt to answer these questions about his or her life.. but is the answer so complicated?

I try to make it complicated, for sure.  I live and die by how I "feel" at a particular moment in time...this is deadly in almost all situations.  If I evaluate my life, and the people in it from my own emotional mind(even if I think I am being rational) I inevitably become disoriented and confused. 

I understand that this whole musing sounds vague and unbalanced...please know that that is pretty much how I feel.  But!! And this is a big BUT(at the risk of sounding self promoting and vein) "The sun is coming up again!"  This is truly the hope I have.  Every day is new and fresh.  God is in control, and I rely on Him.  If I start to become too focused on ANYthing else... I in turn feel lost.  If Christ gives me breath each day, I want to take each breath in praise and worship to Him. And if during the day I get off track(and that is quite an understatement) I know that when I go to sleep one of two things will happen: 1. I will die in my slumber and then be with Jesus, or 2. I will wake up know that "His mercies are new every morning". 

The end of the day always comes, and so ushers in the morning.

Wyatt Earp is my friend

Val Kilmer! Such an amazing actor, so under appreciated.  What ever happened to this Oscar worthy performer?  I have to say that Mr. Kilmer is one of my favorite thespians.  Everyone remembers him as Doc. Holliday  on Tombstone, and one of his first roles as Iceman on Top Gun.  And maybe you even remember him as one of the many Batman persona's...but where is he now?  Why is he so unrecognized today in popular films?

Well I have to say that along with the rest of America, I stopped following Val's movie career, pretty much after Batman.  Now could one speculate that this "tanked" his reputation as a serious actor?  Well, most assuredly a case could be made... I mean look at Michael Keaton.  His role as the first Batman in the series is perhaps what he is best known for. 

Now  George Cloony recovered from his performance as the caped crusader, but he did win an Oscar for Syriana, which was arguably his saving grace.


Now there is one person who will forever be know as the Dark Knight... I speak of course in reference to non other than...yup you guessed it: Adam West.  No more needs to be addressed here.


Regardless of the reason for Mr. Kilmer's fading popularity, I will always remember him as Doc. Holliday, an Academy Award worthy performance to be sure.

We miss you Val!  

Night

So now begins blog two...and I intend to tackle a subject that has affected all of us at one time or another.  In its own right it can be both romantic and frightening.  I speak of course in regards to Night. Yes darkness, sundown, twilight, dusk, evening, sunset, vespers.  It is this foe to daylight that intrigues me so. Why is it that nightfall can be peaceful, and yet terrifying at the same time?  Why do we sleep at night as opposed to day?  Am I going to answer these questions?...Probably not, but nevertheless my query continues.

There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light.  ~N.P. Willis


I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.  ~Vincent Van Gogh

Most glorious night!
Thou wert not sent for slumber!
~Lord Byron, Childe Harold

 
 What is the fascination with night?  During the cover of darkness thieves roam about, poets lie awake, and animals hunt their prey.  There is just something about it that man may never quite understand.  

I find that the majority of my creative thought processes occur at night.  I become more philosophical, more vulnerable to fear, and even more romantic.  My mood changes at night.  I feel things in the stillness of twilight that I never experience during the day.  Feelings of reflection, and wonder, fear and doubt.  As soon as the sun sets the world we live in transforms.  It becomes quiet and soothing...cold and sinister.  

I think that there is a reason we were meant to sleep at night rather than day.  For you see the dusk of evening may invite love and tenderness, but the nocturne of darkness can be a sad song indeed.  

And what is my evidence you may ask?  Why do I insist that darkness is associated with evil?  The answer is simple: Light expels darkness.  When day breaks, darkness flees.

So tonight when you lay down to sleep, don't be afraid of the pending darkness...for the sunrise is coming.

You Gotta Start Somewhere...

After reading some inspiring, intelligent and down right hilarious blogs I decided that it was time that I sit down and type something funny, thought provoking, and inspiring...but unfortunately all I could come up with was this blog...

As I thought of topics that might be of interest to all of you who follow my blog(thanks Katie), I thought, "There is so much to write about! The possibilities are endless!" Subjects of History, Culture, Art and Science. I only need to but choose one of the limitless genres connected to the human experience and muse, meditate, and write.

...

So today I noticed that when you turn on the light after being in the dark all night, it really hurts your eyes!

As the poet coined:

There's nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.  ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

As I sit down to spill my "creative blood", I find that I am anemic. Hourly my mind is filled with thoughts and ponderings, but as soon as my seat hits the chair....crickets...bupkis.  My mind is a blank canvas and the paint has hair in it... 

So perhaps after my first attempt at "blogging" many musings may come to mind.  I hope to enrich your lives with my babblings and that you will send me money...okay I omit that last part, but it is with this thought I leave you now:

"May the crickets in your head chirp loudly!"

Michael James