Breach

“I never had a policy. I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.”
–Abraham Lincoln

“Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
–Thomas Paine

I recently journeyed to the gym for a workout, and during a moment of release after stretching the arms I looked up to a television monitor to see the face of Tiger Woods. On this day the Open Championship continued to unfold in Scotland for the best of the best PGA players. What’s striking, however, is the line in a song I happened to be hearing the very moment I noticed Tiger: “For the life of me, I cannot remember, what made us think that we were wise and we’d never compromise.” I stopped abruptly and pondered the striking convergence of image and music. This line is from the tune “The Freshmen” by The Verve Pipe off their 1996 album Villains.

Arid

“Summer has set in with its usual severity.”
–Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
–Mahatma Gandhi

The Weather Channel site (weather.com) shows a hot temperature for Buford, GA, right now: 93. After finishing up a summer school session yesterday, I journeyed to my mother’s home and changed into shorts and a white shirt to reflect the sun’s pulsing rays. I commenced a run at 11 a.m. and returned 1.5 hours later. Sweat dripped down my face and arms. Exhaustion overtook the body.

Stars

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
–Thomas Paine

“He loves his country best who strives to make it best.”
–Robert G. Ingersoll

Numerous people are still disappointed Conan O’Brien is not hosting The Tonight Show on NBC. After the current host Jay Leno started a new program (aptly titled The Jay Leno Show) late in 2009, O’Brien succeeded the veteran comedian. But low ratings created a controversy for moving the Tonight time slot and the corresponding debacle ended poorly for Conan: he exited NBC after hosting for roughly eight months.

Core

“I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.”
–Everett Dirksen

“Lack of discipline leads to frustration and self-loathing.”
–Marie Chapian

Three days ago I listened to a teaching during church; the minister spoke of convictions and opened his lesson with a story on Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple. Most people know the company recently released the updated iPhone, which will undoubtedly be sheer joy to the devoted group of users who buy every new (or revised) product Apple dispenses into the marketplace. But apparently this story is eclipsing a smaller one Jobs is being criticized for – his position on pornography applications for the phone. According to Jobs, “We do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone.”

Fade

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
–Mark Twain

“The idea is to die young as late as possible.”
–Ashley Montagu

I like to converse with friends on film, and I recently started a dialogue with one on Robin Hood (2010). Russell Crowe portrays the legendary bandit, robbing the rich to provide for the poor. Incidentally, this film reminds me of Gladiator (2000), the other Crowe story of historic grandeur. But it’s the continuous presence of a reality in the story of Maximus I’m currently dwelling on for this reflection. This presence is death, and it will inevitably overtake every person on the planet sooner or later. After birth, the clock commences.

Exquisite

“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face.”
–Helen Keller

“Who, being loved, is poor?”
–Oscar Wilde

A few weeks ago I made the bold choice to rent Precious (2009), directed by Lee Daniels. I first noticed this potent film through the striking trailer weeks before Thanksgiving last year. Although I didn’t get the chance to see it in a theater, my living room effectively served this purpose. The story, based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Ramona Lofton), portrays Claireece “Precious” Jones, a teenager who is illiterate, obese, and pregnant with a second child (by her father). Life with her unemployed mother Mary is truly hell; Precious suffers both verbal and physical abuse, the object of ugly scorn. Throughout the film Precious enters into visions of the ideal life full of noble virtues: love, respect, strength, boldness, and desire. Although the visions are a wondrous place to be transported into, reality keeps interrupting her thoughts of otherworldly glory.

Schism

“It doesn’t take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause.”
–H.L. Mencken

“Freedom lies in being bold.”
–Robert Frost

A good friend recently lent me a copy of Road to Revolution, a live CD by Linkin Park. The roar of a crowd always heightens the energy and potency of a live album, even more so with specific songs on this one. For me, “Numb” is the tune. Two versions are on the CD, but it’s the chorus in the song I find so striking and the perfect introduction for this meditation. The chorus (obviously) speaks of numbness, but it closes with this word: “All I want to do is be more like me and be less like you.” Although I can’t truly know who “you” is in this remark, I find this sentence highlights a thought I have started contemplating recently: conformity. So often conformity is threaded into the day one fails to even notice it. Maybe it’s a habit, a recurring motion, a rhythm.

Dice

“Everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson

“When you cannot make up your mind between two evenly balanced courses of action, choose the bolder.”
–W.J. Slim

Mercy exists in the slightest turn of the dice after a roll. I remember playing Monopoly with my brother back in the days of early adolescence. After unpacking the game, deeds, and cash, pewter instruments of conquest entered into play and the pursuit of total property management unfolded. During the course of the game houses and their superior replacement, the plastic red hotels, stood tall to empower us both to collect higher figures of rental income. Incidentally, I would periodically acquire the Park Place and Boardwalk properties, the highly prized real estate tracts on the board. In my quest to win, houses and the hotel would go up; however, out of kindness to my brother, I would intentionally roll the dice to land on his properties, thus draining my cash, or look for ways to free him up to drop the dice a second time (e.g. one bounced off the table).

Yesteryear

“I’ve grown certain that the root of all fear is that we’ve been forced to deny who we are.”
–Frances Moore Lappe

“To the person who does not know where he wants to go there is no favorable wind.”
–Seneca

This evening I went to a writer’s group and we discussed the subject of parenting. The way a person rears a child undoubtedly changes with time. The child changes too, not only physically, but also in character. In short, the quest is to find one’s identity. Incidentally, I find the word quest to be fitting, for identity is not discovered in a day, nor a week or even a year. Discovering one’s identity, or true self, might be a lifetime collection of experience – success, failure, opportunities, regrets, and finally, closure. Closure is revealed during a funeral. People remark on a person’s identity and highlight the instances he or she touched their life in a noteworthy way. But I suppose the finality of complete closure is revealed in the epitaph on a gravestone.

Press

“Endurance is patience concentrated.”
–Thomas Carlyle

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
–Mohandas Gandhi

This Sunday I step into competitive running once more. The ING marathon, a footrace consisting of 26.2 miles, commences at 7 a.m. Rainfall and wind are on the horizon, but I, like the people surrounding me, will keep the finish line in focus. Gloves, hats, and extra shirts will fall to the street, cramps will stiffen the legs, and the intimidating “wall” will confront every runner. But the presence of cheers, GU gel, Gatorade, a child’s smile, and music pulsing through the ears will be fuel to succeed in spite of the moistened asphalt and physical ache. This picture calls to the mind the thought of finishing strong. This is marathon number three for me, and I can remember faltering strength in the previous two during the final miles. Lactic acid in the legs is one culprit, but I also wonder if it’s the symptom of rushing too quickly off the starting line.