Frustration...

Every once in a while I get insanely frustrated with something trivial. Today my frustration was diverted and changed course to be focused at a book my roomie is reading for a class. I can't say everything in the book I disagreed with, but I disagreed with the heart behind it. Mainly that there wasn't one. It was a book on relationships, but nothing was mentioned about love. From the parts read to me it seemed like a bush beating laundry list of relational do's and don't's. That's not a relationship.

Relationships are not based on convenience or "what you can do for me". At least, they shouldn't be. God's initial relationship with man was one that was based on love. Tragically, it was marred and we've never fully recovered from it. This book painfully brought that reality back to me. This list of do's and don't's was created, I'm sure, with the best of intentions. I'm sure it was meant to help (the various forms of relationships between men and women) and give pointers and suggestions, but the spirit of love was painfully absent.

When the author penned it he forgot the most important key ingredient in any healthy relationship - love. The book touched on relationships from general to intimate. When it got to the relationship between married couples and tried to explain and define the roles it talked of submission and deference, but I never noticed the word love.

I suppose it could have been assumed to be there, or taken for granted but if this was the case, it is almost more tragic it was omitted. Now I'm not married, but in observing the healthy relationship between my parents I can honestly say that love saturates every part of their married lives. From decisions on trivial things like where we should go out to dinner that Sunday and when we should leave for vacation; to what school they should put us children in and where they should go on their anniversary - each decision is made with the other (or others) in mind with the proper amounts of submission, deference, and love.

This book made it seem like this relationship was something very hard you have to work at. Maybe it is, but judging by the ease my parents seem to have in it, I'm not inclined to think so.

This leaves me thinking something is wrong somewhere and I'm not thinking it's with the twenty some odd years of marriage and three well raised children, but with the book.

The point? Well... there isn't much of one besides disliking the book severely. But, if I had to pick, I'd say that it is this: Any relationship based on rules and regulations has missed the point. It's not even a relationship. God does not come to us saying, "Here are my rules, obey them OR ELSE!" He doesn't force us to obey Him or obey His commandments. Instead, He invites us to love Him back. When we love anyone we try to make them happy by doing things that make them happy. We know what those are because we know them. Obviously none of us are talking or walking with God in a physical sense, so He gave us His book to tell us what he likes and dislikes and helps us know what it takes to please Him.

Of course I'm generalizing a little bit here, but essentially, that is it. He has laid out everything we need to know to love Him and know Him in the way He always meant us to.

Am I saying commandments are merely guidelines or suggestions? No! Good grief no! Am I saying God is primarily concerned with us following those rules? No. Because we can follow the rules and regulations perfectly all day long and it will get us no where if we don't love and desire to please Him first.

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P.S. This was not my great summer muse.

Coming Soon...

Sooner or later I'll post my great muse I started over the summer. It's a bit tricky and needs careful wording so there's not confusion. So, hopefully you all will have something substantial to read on my blog soon.

As well, part 3 of the Tales from Farmacie should appear sooner or later.

Until then, I'll just report that I'm still alive, classes are going reasonably well, and I'm working on honing some skills of mine.

Crazy mad ninja skills.

...or just crazy mad Frank skills....

The Times

It was the best of times, it was the sick of times. In the middle of my cold sickness which has left me a groggy, drippy nosed, incoherent carbon based unit, I was able to get a new Toshiba! WOOT WOOT! It's an awesome cobalt blue color and soon it shall hopefully have the most wicked awesome customized sticker that says, "Not all those who wander are lost..."

Until then it's just an awesome blue Toshiba with a few new fonts on it. Soon however, maybe even tonight, I'll have lots of awesome music ripped onto it. WHEE!

But that's a maybe. I'm pretty well incoherent right now. Or something.

I'm still debatin on whether or not I'm going to download winamp.

Okay, before I say anything horribly out of place and incoherent, I'm leaving.

Tales from Farmacie - Part 2

The entirety of the crowd stood in shock, staring at the place where Witch Hazel and her husband had just stood. The first to regain her wits was the good fairy Vyzene who had not yet bestowed a gift.

"Though I cannot undo this spell," she cried, "I can work around it to provide a means of ending it."

"Would you, please?" the King pleaded.

"Certainly, but I must have silence so I can think and word this carefully," Vyzene replied. She walked up to the cradles of Codine and Morfine, and laying her hands on Codine's head first she said, "When a forgotten maid you see/Remember her and then there'll be/ No more cause for her wrath on thee." Then turning to her dear Princess Morfine she put her hands on her and said, "More beautiful and far more fair/ Shall be your face and golden hair/ and when a prince of true love sees/ He'll not sleep til you are freed."

"How shall we know when our prince sees a forgotten maid or our princess sees true love?" Queen Allegra cried.

"I cannot tell you," Vyzene answered. "Nor can they nor will they. In fact, when it happens they shan't even know it. You all shall forget these words of rhyme so that the events may come unlooked for. Otherwise, you meddling and bumbling humans will surely try to interfere, and goodness knows that makes things worse!"

King Adville and Queen Allegra were all in a huff. Meddling and bumbling indeed! They were determined they should not forget the words, but then with a glitter and a puff of blue smoke the fairy disappeared and they found they could not remember quite what she said. This frustrated the two of them greatly, and if they had known it, they would have been quite vexed to know that Vyzene was still in the room. She was as small as a penny and was whispering words of instruction in the ears of the accursed royal children.

She told them that when they turned 16 they would receive a key that would open a box and in that box would be help of some fashion inside. They children never forgot this information and this is what helped them wait out the next 15 years.

--- --- ---
At first, the King and Queen were quite vexed about not being able to hold their own children. Indeed, no one could! Everyone who drew near began to get tired, then drowsy, and if they proceeded to touch them, they would fall asleep on the spot and sleep for four hours straight. This was quite the predicament, because taking care of them was almost impossible. But then one day, a young shoe shine named Beneidryll, who was proclaimed to also have a drowsying effect on people, was able to touch them. Infact, when he did, he grew positively giddy. The King and Queen hired him right away to take care of Codine and Morfine, and this allowed them to not be so anxious about things.

As Prince Codine and Princess Morfine grew, they were told of the dreaded curse put on them by Aunt Witch Hazel, and lamented never being able to see their parents up close or give them a hug. However, as the children grew older, so did the King and Queen. With age comes inability to sleep, and King Adville soon figured out that giving his daughter a hug good-night would set him sleeping soundly til the sun rose. When Queen Allegra found this out, she would draw near them whenever she needed a nap to relieve a head ache.

At first the prince and princess were glad they could be of service to their parents and that they could actually see them up close, but soon enough they began to feel used and longed dearly for the day they could hug their parents with out them falling asleep in their arms.

The years wore on and they remembered the words of Fairy Vyzene and held to the hope of their cure. In the meantime, they were young, they were bored, and they looked for ways to interact with people besides the ever giddy and obnoxious Beneidryll, with out putting them to sleep. They loved each other dearly, and were quite close. But even so, one gets bored with only one other ever and all the time. In vain they tried to think of ways to accomplish this, but nothing came to mind until the tutor shouted from across the large ballroom (for she dared draw no closer) "Have you ever thought of a pen pal?"

... to be continued...

Tales From Farmacie - Part 1

Now that I know people actually read my blog, I feel obligated to update it more often. However, I am at a pathetic lack of things to talk about. There are, of course, a number of issues one can address at any given point, but which one does one write on?

Since I am not in the mood for anything political, religious, or serious, then let me post frivolously. Now, what bit of frivolity?

Aha! I know! I shall tell you a story!

Once in a land called Farmacie there was a good king named Adville and his good queen named Allegra and they had two beautiful childrin- Prince Codine and Princess Morfine. On their first birthday they were presented before the court and bestowed gifts by various nobility and peoples of importance in the kingdom.

King Adville and Queen Allegra invited everyone in Farmacie, but accidentelly forgot to invite the King's sister, Witch Hazel and her husband Mewsinex. They were both quite put out and Hazel was convinced this was done on purpose, but she and her husband resolved to show up anyway and repay the King for his forgetfulness.

The day of the birthday arrived and King Adville and Queen Allegra greeted everyone including Witch Hazel and Mewsinex with the utmost joy and courtesy. The time came for gifts to be bestowed and towards the end of the gift giving, Witch Hazel stepped forward. She bent low over their cradles and sprinkled a dust over them. Then, she stood upright and said in a loud voice, "Though over looked we both have been/ This shall not be ever again/ For now when near your kids you be/ You shall be drowsy and loopy!"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Cried Queen Allegra.
"Shut up you decongested ninny!" retorted Witch Hazel. "and it doesn't have to anyway! The point is, whenever you get near your children you shall become drowsy and unable to drive or operate heavy machinery!"
"Don't forget unable to drink alcohol," Mewsinex sneered.
"Oh yes, that too!" Witch Hazel said. She then cackled wickedly and her and her husband disappeared with a flash and a bang.

TBC...