Cat. Guy. These two words, according to some, should be a contradiction in terms. Guys should not like cats. Guys should like dogs. Girls should like cats.
That's a lot of bull.
Nothing against dogs, mind. I love dogs. They're one of the great animals of the earth. I just happen to like cats better.
I think part of it is the mystique of cats. It's hard, sometimes, to tell what they're thinking. I like to say that cats are either really stupid or really smart, because there's a lot that they don't react to. Either they don't get it, or they get it and are ignoring you.
It's also a matter of respect. You have to work harder to get a cat to like you, or to respect you, than a dog, I think. It's just that cats are so much more of a self-contained unit. They're not half as gregarious as dogs. Just not such social animals. So you can leave them alone more easily than dogs--you're not as chained to the animal as you are with dogs. Not to say that they don't need love--just not as much attention as dogs tend to like.
They're also more manageable in an apartment b/c of their size. They're big enough that you can pet them and not be afraid of hurting them but small enough that most apartment complexes don't have a problem allowing them, provided you pay a fee.
I think, though, I like cats more than dogs because they're more of a mystery. It's easy to imagine that there's a lot they're not telling us, whereas dogs are pretty much an open book. Cats are just more interesting, and they're fascinating to watch--they can alternate between being so elegant and agile and, when they bite it, looking utterly foolish, and still they can try to cover it up, like they meant to bite it--at which point they are just cute and funny.
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Friday, 27 July 2007
forgiveness
I think I've talked about this before, but I'm not sure, so maybe it bears repeating: it's hard, extremely so sometimes, to forgive what people do to us or have done to us. And yet, as a matter of survival, we have to, even if it's just forgiving them by faith. Just say it, even grudgingly, mean it, and eventually grow into it. The reason it's important is because if we don't forgive, we cut God off from being able to forgive us for stuff. You know, "forgive and you'll be forgiven" (Luke 6:36-38)? Also, as long as we refuse to forgive somebody a thing, we continue to allow them to have power over us, which is, frankly, stupid.
Some people refuse to forgive for many reasons, but one of the most insidious ones is that we enjoy the pain and the attention and, sometimes, sympathy we get from displaying our wounds.
But we're still hurting ourselves.
In the end, the only people hurt by our refusal to forgive is ourselves.
Some people refuse to forgive for many reasons, but one of the most insidious ones is that we enjoy the pain and the attention and, sometimes, sympathy we get from displaying our wounds.
But we're still hurting ourselves.
In the end, the only people hurt by our refusal to forgive is ourselves.
Sunday, 15 July 2007
over it
Last blog was about how disappointed I was with my trip to Dallas. Almost a week later, I'm deeply appreciative of it, if for no other reason that that I implicitly trust my car now. There was no reason not to trust it, mind, but I had never taken it on a longer trip than to another city about an hour-and-a-half's drive from here. Dallas was at least twice that, that my car did it without a hiccup. Again, being what it is, there was no reason to think it would do anything otherwise, but there's nothing like experience to help one be sure.
You know, one could apply that elsewhere as well. Perhaps that's why parents sound so commanding about certain things they're telling their kids to do or not to do. Their advice is coming from experience. They're not being dictators; they're just sure. Not about everything, I would think, but about certain things. Like how, for example, if you've got a beautiful daughter, a lot of boys, however innocent-looking they are, are more interested in what's under her clothes than what's in her heart and in her head. I'm using this example because I just read the Typepad blog of our church's pastor. I like how he and his wife have certain criteria that a boy has to meet before taking out their daughter--certainly better than a cursory glance, making sure he likes the same sports team (or whatever) as the parents and an admonition to have her back before 3am, and yet the criteria are not onerous. I could learn a lot about being a parent, assuming I'm ever in that position, from this pastor and other parents I know.
I also wonder if, as a suitor to women of my age, I shouldn't ask myself the same questions? Am I more interested in the woman or her body? What do I want to do with my life (I should know by now--thank God I do)? Things like this. Certainly a woman who might be interested in me could well be going through a similar list not only on herself but also on me. Frankly, it's a good test for a single person to go through regardless, just as a process of increasing self-knowledge and self-identification.
So, here are the questions. The pastor had his comments under each, but I'm putting my own in in this more general version:
1) What do you want to do with the rest of your life, and what are you doing to get there?
If you don't know where you're going, why should anybody follow or go with you?
2) Are you looking for a friend, a girl/boyfriend or a wife/husband?
Focus--what do you want?
3) Are you more interested in the person or what's under their clothes?
Again, what do you want? Knowing this will tell you what you should be looking for. I think a lot of people get married just so they can have sex with a clean conscience or for security, but is it worth it?
4) When's the last time you did something nice for your mother?
Even a thoughtful card will do, if possible. Or a phone call... If your parents have passed on, what would you like to do for them if one or both were to come back for a day?
5) What's your relationship with God like?
For me, this is crucial, not just to have a relationship with God but that it be good and growing.
So thanks, pastor. You've given me some food for thought. And thank You, God, for this pastor.
You know, one could apply that elsewhere as well. Perhaps that's why parents sound so commanding about certain things they're telling their kids to do or not to do. Their advice is coming from experience. They're not being dictators; they're just sure. Not about everything, I would think, but about certain things. Like how, for example, if you've got a beautiful daughter, a lot of boys, however innocent-looking they are, are more interested in what's under her clothes than what's in her heart and in her head. I'm using this example because I just read the Typepad blog of our church's pastor. I like how he and his wife have certain criteria that a boy has to meet before taking out their daughter--certainly better than a cursory glance, making sure he likes the same sports team (or whatever) as the parents and an admonition to have her back before 3am, and yet the criteria are not onerous. I could learn a lot about being a parent, assuming I'm ever in that position, from this pastor and other parents I know.
I also wonder if, as a suitor to women of my age, I shouldn't ask myself the same questions? Am I more interested in the woman or her body? What do I want to do with my life (I should know by now--thank God I do)? Things like this. Certainly a woman who might be interested in me could well be going through a similar list not only on herself but also on me. Frankly, it's a good test for a single person to go through regardless, just as a process of increasing self-knowledge and self-identification.
So, here are the questions. The pastor had his comments under each, but I'm putting my own in in this more general version:
1) What do you want to do with the rest of your life, and what are you doing to get there?
If you don't know where you're going, why should anybody follow or go with you?
2) Are you looking for a friend, a girl/boyfriend or a wife/husband?
Focus--what do you want?
3) Are you more interested in the person or what's under their clothes?
Again, what do you want? Knowing this will tell you what you should be looking for. I think a lot of people get married just so they can have sex with a clean conscience or for security, but is it worth it?
4) When's the last time you did something nice for your mother?
Even a thoughtful card will do, if possible. Or a phone call... If your parents have passed on, what would you like to do for them if one or both were to come back for a day?
5) What's your relationship with God like?
For me, this is crucial, not just to have a relationship with God but that it be good and growing.
So thanks, pastor. You've given me some food for thought. And thank You, God, for this pastor.
Monday, 9 July 2007
Disappointed
Okay, so after all that great stuff this weekend about the audition for the TV show, I go to Dallas and, instead of reading for six parts, I wind up reading for one part. One. With three words. And I didn't get called back, which tells me they're not interesed in me for that part.
Then, when I get back, I find out that the part I was to play in another film has been played by somebody else. Argh.
Here's the kicker: none of this is really anybody's fault. I can't point a finger and say, "Well, you just had it in for me." No, nobody's out to get me, nobody's got anything against me. These projects are not about me. I'm just frustrated because I got my hopes up and it seemed they had been dashed. And yet, nobody was doing anything to dash my hopes--they were simply doing their jobs and what was best for their projects.
I just wish somebody at a certain level would give me a chance. Cast me in something--preferably something with more than one line, or at least one good line. Let me get a foot on the ledge so I can start climbing.
Maybe this is another test from God, to see how I react to disappointment at this level. Well, here's how: I'm upset, but I leave him in control because he can handle my life much better than I. It's important to be okay with being upset, angry, ticked-off as long as you deal with it and get over it, which I'm doing.
If I try to find the good in this situation, it's this: I got before the casting director of a national TV show (and not a reality show), and I got out of my comfort zone, and God brought me back just fine, thank you.
I want to remain mad. I want to be angry. But I don't really have justification to do so.
I guess sometimes it seems like such a long way between where I am and where I want to be. And yet, who knows what God's got in the works. As the Word says, "Having done all to stand, stand." That means when you've done everything you can to stand firm, you don't just stand for a short time. You stand firm, trusting God, for however long it takes, whatever 'it' is. You say, "You know what, this threw a monkey wrench into the works, or seems to have. I don't feel that good right now, but I will not be moved. My faith in God will not be budged, period."
So, Satan, if you think the events of today are going to shake me, you've got another think coming. Bless God, my break will come, and when it does, and even between now and then, I'm going to continue to thank God, to trust God and to share God.
Then, when I get back, I find out that the part I was to play in another film has been played by somebody else. Argh.
Here's the kicker: none of this is really anybody's fault. I can't point a finger and say, "Well, you just had it in for me." No, nobody's out to get me, nobody's got anything against me. These projects are not about me. I'm just frustrated because I got my hopes up and it seemed they had been dashed. And yet, nobody was doing anything to dash my hopes--they were simply doing their jobs and what was best for their projects.
I just wish somebody at a certain level would give me a chance. Cast me in something--preferably something with more than one line, or at least one good line. Let me get a foot on the ledge so I can start climbing.
Maybe this is another test from God, to see how I react to disappointment at this level. Well, here's how: I'm upset, but I leave him in control because he can handle my life much better than I. It's important to be okay with being upset, angry, ticked-off as long as you deal with it and get over it, which I'm doing.
If I try to find the good in this situation, it's this: I got before the casting director of a national TV show (and not a reality show), and I got out of my comfort zone, and God brought me back just fine, thank you.
I want to remain mad. I want to be angry. But I don't really have justification to do so.
I guess sometimes it seems like such a long way between where I am and where I want to be. And yet, who knows what God's got in the works. As the Word says, "Having done all to stand, stand." That means when you've done everything you can to stand firm, you don't just stand for a short time. You stand firm, trusting God, for however long it takes, whatever 'it' is. You say, "You know what, this threw a monkey wrench into the works, or seems to have. I don't feel that good right now, but I will not be moved. My faith in God will not be budged, period."
So, Satan, if you think the events of today are going to shake me, you've got another think coming. Bless God, my break will come, and when it does, and even between now and then, I'm going to continue to thank God, to trust God and to share God.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Praise God!
Praise God!
Well, something very cool happened: I often write down stuff I feel like God's saying through me.A day or two ago, He said this:
Dear Sean,
As you have been obedient in this small thing, you will be obedient in the larger thing to which I have called you.
You are now ready. Be prepared for a call--a phone call--and answer that call. In doing so, you will begin to answer your larger call--to film, to Hollywood, to movie stardom, to influence. I could not have you influencing many if I could not trust you. Now I can. So prepare, and thank Me, the Lord God, and now go.
-Love, God
Well, today, I got a call from my agent--a well-known television show wants me to audition for some roles, a few of which would be recurring. This would be a huge boost to my career. I'm just saying "praise God!" for that, and I'm saying God answers prayer. Thank you, Lord God! Glory to God!
-Sean
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