Of Uni and Egg

As as a fan of sushi and sashimi I have had my share of toro, and the many delights of thinly sliced raw fish presented in dazzling arrays of floral sculpture presented on plates made to look like ethereal Japanese gardens.

Many times I have also indulged in the creamy goodness of uni or for those of you outside of the know, raw sea urchin. This delectable creature tastes like the like ocean with a notably intense richness of flavor comparable to the finest clams.

Why it took me so long to also ask for this delight to be topped with the quail egg (as is offered in any respectable sushi establishment) I do not know. What I do know is that the taste of the raw quail egg and uni together provide a rather transcendent experience for those who already love uni by itself. Having finally tried this mind bending combination of sea and air creature features at Kaizen sushi bar and grill in Sturbridge, Massachusetts I must say, I regret waiting.

Perhaps it was one of several episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” where I watched him devour the same sublime combination that inspired my last minute reaction at Kaizen to reply to the waitress, “yes I will have the quail egg with my uni”.  Regardless of why I made the decision I realized from the first bite, my uni ritual was forever changed.

Indeed it takes a certain kind to enjoy uni as it is even for the novice sushi lover a new level of extremes within the realm of consuming raw fish. However if you are already there and enjoy the delicacy as is and have not experienced the magic that is the marriage of quail egg and uni I digress,

taste and be amazed.

What is “Church”

While reading some posts on “Mike in progress Blog” I came across a quote that I have tried to communicate myself and at times did so with far to many words. It is simply excellent as a reminder to those who claim to be christians.

“While most of us know this, we still need to be reminded that the church is not a specific building or location. Our buildings and programs create environments for church to happen but they are no more or less sacred than our living room or the neighborhood pub.” –Brad Ruggles

Indeed, Church is the grand collective of all those who believe in Jesus Christ as lord and savior…. Church is not a building.

Meditations on the evolution of my faith

At the age of 26 I find myself more comfortable in my own skin in regards to my faith as a Christian. For years I found it hard to speak to many of my friends about my spirituality other than those specific concepts that fit nicely with their religious or spiritual views. Mainly because as an artist and musician most of my closest friends have Esoteric, Agnostic or Atheist views on life and matters of a spiritual nature.

Exoteric Christianity can be very off-putting to folks who would describe themselves as open minded individuals and even as a christian there were times in my youth that I would question my faith while becoming rather fond of the outward fruits of their belief systems. However with age and earnest seeking God has revealed his truths to my heart, mind and soul time and again, often times in ways bearing significant resemblance to synchronicity, although such a phenomenon touched by the holy spirit has a specific light about it not found with its secular counterpart.

With that being said I have found that many of my fears as a teenager, such as being ostracized for my belief in Jesus Christ as the sole mediator, path and way to God and heaven, has fallen by the wayside even with the threat of loss still peaking its head into my daily life in regards to my relationships to those who disagree with such a concept. I attribute some of this to the fact that many of my friends who disagree, dislike or even abhor the Christan faith see me and my actions towards them as kind hearted and open minded. Indeed as I write this the very thought still bears the marks of personal epiphany.

What I mean to express here is that there are many Christians such as myself who exist outside of the hypocritical, cookie cutter, plastic smile televangelist fold.  Sadly many folks especially those who like myself are drawn to the art and music of Psychedelia, Bohemian, or Counter subcultures view Christians  as a whole, little more than clones of the character types described above.

My hope is that if anything, this post establishes the fact that not all Christians are products of what mainstream culture sees Christianity to be. As a young man of faith I can attest to the fact that at first glance you may very well assume me to be a liberal hippy. In many ways that description does fit me however I would like to point out I am also many other things including a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, a Husband, a political independant, a cigar enthusiast, a lover of fine wine and craft beer, a dead head and a person who loves to discuss world faiths and believes in tolerance and respect for others, in addition to so many other things.

Ghostface Killah and a spark of joy

Over the weekend while enjoying some craft beer and playing tony hawk 4 on my nintendo gamecube I found myself pondering the memory of an article I had read about rapper “ghostface killah”. While I know nothing of his work as a recording artist I recalled the article due to some of GFK’s comments.

GFK had said in the article he enjoyed reading his koran at breakfast and found what he described as “a little spark of joy” from small pleasures in life such as getting a shave. While you won’t find me at the local barber shop I can say that I fully understood what he meant.

For GFK getting a shave is akin to what I find enjoyable about  a fine cigar or reading a good book in my favorite chair with just the right amount light from the lamp nearby. Indeed these are small pleasures that provide a “little spark of joy”

What I mean to express by this commentary is that people who can relate to the idea of pulling true joy from small moments such as these understand the art of truly enjoying life. Happiness so to speak, truly can be found in small inexpensive or free moments of time and actions on a daily basis.

So in closing I invite you to take note of your self and discover the small things in your life that provide you with that “little spark of joy” and to hone those moments on a daily basis so that you may see for your self, this concept in action.

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Amazing Guitarists (Part 3)

Here we go with round 3 of the amazing guitarist series of posts. Honestly each of the guys are just off the hook incredible. Enjoy!

George Benson

Wes Montgomery

Django Reinhardt < Only had two working fingers on his fret hand!

Living in Honesty. An observation

As of recent pondering I have noticed that within my own life:

As a christian who is trying to be more than a person who simply classify themselves as a christian to mark a status, I make every effort to walk the christian spiritual path, trying to exemplify Christs work in my life (often times failing in one area while succeeding in others)  I have found that while working on a specific aspect of my life, of which currently is honing honesty, there is a ripple effect within the honest seeking of becoming closer to god.

When you really step out to meet God and start walking in said path the times in which you choose to do what is right regardless of the cost casts light on other areas of your life where you need to do the same.

Always being honest from admitting to large mistakes that you know will bring pain to you or those you love for the sake of telling the absolute truth, down to small acts of honesty such as if you receive fifty cents extra in change at the store and give back to the store that small bit of money that is rightfully theirs you begin to see more of these choices in the light of the true weight of lies and the true freedom from burden that honesty entails.

Each time you make a righteous decision, the following instance of a situation that you faced in the past but chose to invoke a white lie or to bend the rules now come with the conviction to do what is right and as you follow Gods command to do what is right each time a light shines on new opportunities to make the right decision in other aspects of your life.

Amazing Guitarists (Part 2)

I decided to change the name of this series of guitar posts from “Most underrated Guitarists Ever” to “Amazing Guitarists”. I have once again posted links below to youtube videos of each guitarists work, of which is but a sample of their talent. Again I would suggest digging  deeper if you find them to be as truly awesome as I do.

Jimmy Herring

Derek Trucks

Tom Morello

Three very different players up there. Hope you enjoy the sonic variations that each of these craftsmen brings to the table.

Christian Spirituality, New Age and Truth

The following was written by a friend that I met on an online community of which no longer exists. This writing is also from the “Faith” section of my website however I just had to share it here on my blog because I think it is so well written and unlike many christian manifestos is written in love and logic and is based in love for others.

Recently, I was questioned about my belief that there is ony one true faith and that is the faith most call Christianity. My friend asked me how I could be so closed minded and why I wasn’t open to the (what she called)”fact” that all faiths lead to the same place. More specifically, she believes in what Eckhart Tolle teaches in that “In fact, every belief is an obstacle” (page 115 of the ebook version of his book “A New Earth”) so it doesn’t matter what you believe in. “Do you really believe that?” I asked. She responded with an enthusiastic “Absolutely!”

I decided to begin the discussion by trying to establish a base from which we could both agree to start from. I believe that establishing the fact of the existence of absolute truths is essential. I find that entering into serious discussions with those that believe existence is relative is ultimately futile. If we can’t even agree that we are actually having a conversation, then what could possibly be concluded at the end of a conversation that may have not even happened?

If we are to use logic, then we must agree that absolute truth is not an opinion, but a logical fact. If one would claim that absolute truth does not exist, what they are in essence saying is “It is absolutely true that absolute truth doesn’t exist,” thereby establishing an absolute truth. What is open for discussion are the questions of what those truths are. If I say that the best color is green, that is an opinion, but it is true that that is what my opinion is. There are many ways to mathematically arrive at the number 2, but each equation is either true or not. 1+1 is either 2 or it’s not… 4+4 can’t both equal 8 and 9 at the same time. An apple cannot be green and not green at the same time.

With that said, mutually exclusive beliefs cannot both be correct. If one system claims that there is no sort of higher consciousness or intelligence and another system claims there is, one must be correct and the other must be incorrect. Now, what that higher consciousness or intelligence actually is, is open to more discussion. There can be many ideas of what that that higher consciousness/intelligence is. I can say that I believe that that higher consciousness is an elephant and another can say that is a mule. We could logically both be incorrect, but we could not both be correct. So to say that all faiths are correct and lead to the same place cannot possibly be true since many of them are mutually exclusive.

What Eckhart Tolle doesn’t seem to be aware of is that the belief that all beliefs are obstacles to enlightenment is just that – a belief. This way of thinking is even more exclusive than the Christian perspective. In our politically correct culture, it is very unpopular to believe in absolutes because one runs the risk of being labelled closed minded. Saying that all faiths lead to the same place makes one feel as though they are being open minded and all inclusive, but is logically impossible and dishonors the very distinct differences that most faiths have from one another.

I shared with my friend that what I am interested in is truth. I am also very connected to emotion and prefer to experience things and believe in things that “feel good,” but I am also aware that emotions and preferences can change at the drop of a hat. Most women that have experienced bizarre cravings during pregnancy could relate to this. One minute she may want peanut butter, the next minute the thought of peanut butter may repulse her and she may want ice cream. The peanut butter didn’t all of a sudden become rancid. What changed was her perception about it. So I am interested in what is true and not nessesarilly what makes me feel good because truth will always be truth regardless of how I feel about it.

That is part of what is so important to me about God’s Word. It tells me how I am supposed to behave no matter how I feel. If I only go to work when I feel like it, I will lose my job. I know that I need to go to work every day that I am scheduled and that I must do what is part of my job description if I want to keep my job… regardless of how I feel about it. But we’re not there yet.

So I told my friend that truth and logic is how I understand things in my life. If I believe one system over another it is because it makes more sense to me. If you can convince me that I am believing things that aren’t true and that you offer me something that makes more sense, I will abandon the former and embrace the latter. Now, in any given belief system, there are things that we may not understand completely, but because of the credibility that has been earned by the truths that have been proven, we “have faith” that what we don’t understand can someday be understood.

All of that to tell her that I have not come to my faith in Christ blindly or because I have a need to feel superior to someone else, nor do I have a desire to sit in judgement of others. It simply makes the most sense to me. I am not going to state as fact that someone else is wrong and that I am right because not only do I not have undisputeable proof, but when you tell someone that their whole way of looking at the world is wrong, they feel attacked and repelled. If they are seeking truth, one can lovingly and respectfully help people see flaws in bad logic instead of just declairing them to be wrong.

Which leads me to my final point in this particular post. I believe that we can only use the sources of authority that others recognise when entering into discussion or debate with them. When my friend asked me why I believe that Jesus is the only way, If I had responded with, “Because the Bible says so,” that’s meaningless to her. I can’t use the authority of scripture with someone that doesn’t believe in it’s authority. I need to use her own system of authority – her own logic until she has reason to agree in the authority of scripture. Only then can I begin to say “Come, let’s see what God’s Word has to say about that.”

Music and Color Correspondences

According to this snippet of info (that I had hoped I would find) when searching for the correlation between music and color, I found that a study done at Montclair State University revealed the following:

College students listened to four song clips. Following each clip, the students indicated which color(s) corresponded to each of the four songs by distributing five points among eleven basic color names. Each song had previously been identified as either a “happy” or “sad” song. Each participant listened to two “happy” and two “sad” songs in random order. There was more agreement in color choice for the songs eliciting the same emotions than for songs eliciting different emotions. Brighter colors such as yellow, red, green, and blue were usually assigned to the happy songs and gray was usually assigned to the sad songs. It was concluded that music-color correspondences occur via the underlying emotion common to the two stimuli.

This study would suggest that on a deeper level every note, chord and scale have correspondences to different shades of color. Now if every color has a corresponding emotion it is no wonder that music has the profound effect on our emotions that it does.