symbols

Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink, especially on a warm afternoon mixed half-and-half with ginger ale. It is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses.
Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice, especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one.


the above is quoted from Frederick Buechner's book Wishful Thinking in the context of communion. But he is not just talking about communion, he is talking about so much more.


Thinking about it, we all have a choice from which cup we will drink in life. Buechner is right, one cup is easy and safe, and the other difficult and dangerous, probably bringing with it a host of problems. Jesus posed the question that still lingers today, "Can you drink from my cup?" The cup is full of risks, pain, suffering, problems and in a way death. But when we stop and think about it, really think about it, we will see that it is the only cup that brings life, life in its truest and fullest form. The way it was meant to be lived.

una coversación

¿para qué? te pregunto
y me miras con sola una mirada.
¿a donde? atrevo yo
y me sonríes con compasión.
que no sé si puedo
y me respondes que ya he llegado

lyrics for the cure for pain

I'm not sure why it always flows downhill
Why broken cisterns never could stay filled
I've spent ten years singing gravity away
But the water keeps on falling from the sky

And here tonight while the stars are blacking out
With every hope and dream I've ever had in doubt
I've spent ten years trying to sing these doubts away
But the water keeps on falling from my eyes

And heaven knows... heaven knows
I tried to find a cure for the pain
Oh my Lord! to suffer like you do...
It would be a lie to run away

So blood is fire pulsing through our veins
We're either riders or fools behind the reigns
I've spent 10 years trying to sing it all away
but the water keeps on falling from my tries

faith

They say faith is about stepping off the edge and knowing, or is it believing? that there will either be something to catch you... or that you will find that you have wings to fly.
Sometimes I feel like the edge has come and gone, and the wings I have are too small for the weight, no one has caught me yet, and I'm still falling, wandering what it will be like when I hit the bottom. The only faith I have left is that when I do, I will still be believing...

song by jon foreman

the cure for pain. sorry for the quality but it was the best i could find.

a few more photos

brighton

in salt lake city we decided we couldn't pass through without carving some powder, so a day's snowboarding was voted in... at Brighton Ski Resort...






pulled out of the ski resort at 5 and drove about 300 miles till we stopped in Rawlins, Wyoming at 9 pm.

from oregon to indiana

a 1994 toyota pickup needed to be driven back to indiana, so Isaiah and I jumped on the opportunity to drive it cross country...




i had to put both pics in since in the first one i had my brothers glasses on, and it's only fair that there is one of us both in them.
i am going to throw out a few of the stats from the journey mixed in with some pics, so here it goes...

shots from oregon to salt lake city:




Left on 1st of January at 5 am.
Drove 800 miles across Oregon, down through Idaho, till we got to Salt Lake City.
Arrived at 9 pm.

the first of dos mil ocho

well back in spain now. the following sessions should fill in what that means exactly but first, goodbye 2k7, hello 2k8. don't worry, no resolutions here.

i suppose i should go back to late november, early december when a series of events led to me getting a ticket to Oregon to spend Christmas with my family... A lot of airmiles were put to use to avoid spending the extortionate holiday rates. and i found myself in the northwest enjoying a mitchell christmas with the fam.

in december my grandpa passed away, suddenly, but not entirely unexpectedly. so it was a blessing to be able to be with family after that happened.

i was due to fly straight back to madrid on the 3rd of january but there was an unexpected road trip about to take place.