On Failure: Part I



It is late, but I have been up because I can't go to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't get a job that I interviewed for, and it has been the latest in a laundry list of frustrations that have marked 2012. I will post an entry that gives you a better idea of how I'm handling this, but beware, it's long and personal. Don't worry, I'm okay.

In the meantime, join me as I pray with the words of Thomas Merton:

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.  I do not see the road ahead of me.  I cannot know for certain where it will end.  No do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will, does not mean that I am actually doing so.  But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.  And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire, and I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.  Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death.  I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and will never leave me to face my perils alone."
Amen!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

On Failure: Part II

Image
Note: friends, I originally wrote this as a journal entry on August 1, yet hesitated to share it because it is a very personal entry, even for me. Don't worry, there's nothing graphic or revealing in here, it's just good to let you know that this is pretty raw stuff straight from the heart.  It's okay, because you're probably not going to read the whole thing, anyway! At El Morro National Monument, New Mexico Today I found out I did not get a job that I applied for, one that seemed to match my skills and experience in natural resource management very precisely. I did everything to the best of my abilities and even surrounded myself with the prayers of those closest to me. I got a great recommendation from the CEO of the nonprofit I interned with as a student, typed the best cover letter I could muster, and even gave them electronic and physical copies of my resume. You know, all the stuff the university's career services and those industry professionals
Read more

Ex Machina: Pure Postmodern Filmmaking

Image
It's no secret that sci-fi is one of my favorite genres. Though I was raised consuming volumes of fantasy novels, sci-fi is cut from the same cloth. A good science fiction story draws upon enough believable material to make us engage with the story, with some good imagination and speculation to draw us into deeper, unknown, and perhaps bolder territory. I just saw a great example of how science fiction engages our deepest, very human questions, asking us to think and feel familiar things while venturing into new narrative territory. But before I talk about the film I'll give you a little background on why (and how) I came to love the genre. The journey began with some classic novels new and old (although science fiction is a relatively new genre, coming to prominence only in the middle of the 20th century). Some highlights include Frank Herbert's 1965 masterpiece Dune , where I followed the Messiah-like Paul Atreides on his quest to seek justice for the injuries again
Read more

The Best of the 90s: Songs

Image
I don't know why I find it so fun to write about music, specifically the best that I have to choose from as I browse my library on iTunes. Writing this makes me realize that even ten years ago I would have chosen a few different words: looking through my CD tower, flipping through my LP collection, etc. And even as our information-crazy world trudges onward into the limits of shared media, it's worth stopping to appreciate those simpler days when iPods, Pads, and Phones were still a sparkle in Steve Jobs' eye. So, without further ado, I present this week's blog topic: My choices for top ten tracks of the 1990s. I'll rank them according to both significance and quality, so this should give you a window into my taste and life. And again, if I haven't mentioned this before , my taste is impeccable. 10. Fake Plastic Trees, Radiohead, The Bends,  1993. This is one of those tunes that introduced me to the quintet from Oxford, whom I now consider my all-time fav
Read more