Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
We, we don't have to worry 'bout nothing
'Cause we got the fire, and we're burning one hell of a something
They, they gonna see us from outer space, outer space
Light it up, like we're the stars of the human race, human race
When the light started out they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We don't wanna leave, no. We just wanna be right now (right), r-r-right now
And what we see is everybody's on the floor acting crazy, getting loco 'til the lights out
Music's on, I'm waking up, we fight the fire, then we burn it up
And it's over now, we got the love, there's no sleeping now, no sleeping now, no sleeping
When the light started out they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
When the light started out they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We gonna let it burn burn burn burn (burn burn)
Burn burn burn burn (burn burn)
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
We can light it up, up, up
So they can't put it out, out, out
When the light started out they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
Gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
We gonna let it burn, burn, burn, burn
When the light started out they don’t know what they heard
Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world
We'll be raising our hands, shining up to the sky
'Cause we got the fire, fire, fire
Yeah we got the fire, fire, fire
And we gonna let it burn
For some reason, this song is making me think about my recent efforts to get back into writing after spending the last year a half buried in work at multiple jobs and adjusting to life with kids. I've really struggled to get back into my writing habit (probably even before that, if I'm being honest), and there have been a lot of stops and false starts along the way. I don't know if that's because I truly run into insurmountable obstacles or if it's because I was looking for an excuse not to do the hard work of actually sitting down and getting back to the page again.
Ultimately, after completing "The Soundtrack of Your Life" last month and signing up for "Wonderland" this month, I think I might have finally shaken the rust off. I'm finding myself excited by the Wonderland writing challenges, as well as the idea of blogging again and even (gasp) getting back to work on my screenplay and my novel which have been sitting idle. For far too long I fear I've been one of those writers who isn't really writing but rather thinks about writing all the time, and I really want to get back to being the kind of writer who actually writes things again. I promised myself that 2020 is going to be the year that I take my writing really seriously and make an effort to get published and get back on track, and that's never going to happen if I don't get off the sidelines and get back into the habit.
One of the things I really love about the Writing.com community is that there are activities like SOYL and Wonderland that are smaller, bite-sized opportunities to accomplish something. A lot of writers turn their nose up at these activities (or contests and other writing challenges) because they're not furthering the author's specific writing goals (their current work-in-progress, whatever that may be), but I've always found a strength and encouragement in being able to tackle these smaller challenges and get a jolt of confidence that comes from actually finishing something. Maybe other writers don't have the same fear of failure, and sense of impostor syndrome that I often struggle with, but as someone who does struggle with those things, it's nice to have a low-stakes, friendly community of fellow writers where I can stretch my wings, get my feet under me again, and experiment with some things without worrying that it's going to have a catastrophic effect on my writing career.
I don't know why this song brought out all of these emotions (or maybe they just bubbled up today naturally as I was thinking about what to write about), but that's what was going through my head as I listened to this song today.
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