First Published: 2019 February 03
Jeremiah 1:4: “The word of the LORD came to me:”
Today’s three readings exhort us to three different calls. In the first, the Lord speaks to Jeremiah, urging him to strength by saying “They will fight against you but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.”1 We too are called to trust the Lord to protect us from harm and lead us to salvation. The second exhorts us that “And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing”2 In the Gospel, Jesus drives his countrymen to anger by speaking truths to them.3
In all of these we see God’s command. God is Love, so of course we need love to be anything, for what are we without God? And, though we should not test Him, we are called to stand for what is right and true, as God urges Jeremiah to do. Finally, we are to take the love and trust we have and do as Jesus does, speaking the uncomfortable truth even at risk to our own safety.
First Published: 2019 February 02
Today, all three of the men attempted to end the meet with the same dive, 405C. One of us1 has thrown the dive at numerous other meets, so it went well, as was to be expected. One of us2 had never attempted this dive before, so it went better than expected. One of us3 had tried it a few times before, so the dive went as mediocrely as to be expected.
In addition, I attempted 205 again. This time I tried it twice, the first was ok, the second one went way over! I almost threw a triple. That’s exciting.
Otherwise, the meet went pretty well. I had some dives I’ve never done quite as well, and a lot of dives I’ve done as well before.
First Published: 2019 February 01
As I mentioned yesterday, this month I’m trying to write a limerick a day. Now, this means that I actually need to know how to write them. The rules of a limerick are apparently really flexible, which is sad. Maybe I’ll choose a different type of poem.
I think I’ll instead do the ballad form. That is ABCB, where the A and C lines have 8 syllables, and the B’s have 6 syllables. Since it’s a folk tradition, the rules are pretty vague from there. So, since for the daily sonnet I wrote 14 lines, I should probably try three stanzas of 4 lines, so that I have a smaller number of lines to write.
Maybe next month I’ll try a nonet.1
Other options include this,this,the time that this may be, or this↩︎
First Published: 2019 January 31
My role model for this writing1 reflect each month on the month, especially in relation to writing. This month for writing was interesting.
I failed to write the most days I’ve ever done. Conversely, I still have an average of one post a day.
I also set a goal of writing a sonnet every day. While I did not quite reach the goal, I did write2 24 sonnets, which is good enough for me. I learned that I can write about the everyday events in my life, which is nice.
Next month, I will try to write the posts more consistently for their day. I will also try to write a limerick a day, as that should hopefully be less time consuming.3
First Published: 2019 January 30
One of the important things I learned abroad is that I procrastinate. One of the important things I learned today is that academics don’t feel real if I’m not in academic settings.1 But, that’s ok. I can always make up what work I didn’t get ahead on in the next few days.
maybe that’s why I procrastinated so much abroad↩
First Published: 2019 January 30
This year, the Grinnell Singers is performing Thomas Tallis’1 work Spem in Alium.2 This piece has 40 parts. Grinnell Singers has3 40 people. So, I’m on my own part.
We tried singing it. It went ok. Thankfully, the piece is old enough that it’s mostly three note chords throughout, so I could sound not completely wrong. C’est la vie.
First Published: 2019 January 28
I know how snow days work. More or less, it’s when the snow has fallen in such a way that the roads are unsafe to travel. Now, however, Grinnell has a cold day. That is, it’s too cold for the College to feel safe having class. I’m confused.
First Published: 2019 January 27
Nehemiah 8:9B: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not lament, do not weep!”
Today’s Gospel reading speaks about Jesus’ return to Galilee, where he reads a passage from the Prophet Isaiah. Here, we see the Lord telling the congregation that, in the words of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, “in accordance with the Scriptures” he has come and fulfilled the words. All in all, it’s one of the more straightforward Gospels, at least to me.
But, as the first reading points out, “today is holy to the Lord.” We should live each day knowing that the Lord loved us so that he took the form of a man and suffered death on a cross for us.
First Published: 2019 January 27
Prereading note: in the interest of my attention span and available time, I left out a lot of the discussion, as well as a lot of the reasoning I have for feeling this way. Mea culpa.
To many people,1 there are two kinds of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. And, to most of these same people, it’s believed that intrinsic motivation is better. Mostly, this is because external sources may lead you astray or not exist to keep you working, or so the theory goes.
However, I claimed that I am extrinsically motivated. The inevitable straw-man argument came out, namely that since I choose what to listen to, I must be intrinsically motivated. But, that’s not what I was saying. What I was saying2 is that, in my experience so far, I choose activities because of external motivators. Continuing, I’ve realized I even stop doing activities when3 external motivations disappear.
The most clear examples I can think of are why I joined the two choirs I sing at in college. For one, an audition choir, I received an email in June from the director saying that it would be a shame to let the hard work my high school choir director had put in go to waste.4 While getting a signature for that ensemble, my advisor told me that I should also join the early music group. Once in both, I received more external motivation to remain in them than I can think of easily.
Whenever I5 expressed that I felt I brought the average quality of singer down in the first ensemble, I was told that I was a valued member of the ensemble. Whenever any other early musician learns that I play the cornetto, they6 express astonishment, as it’s known as a hard instrument.
And, the final point to making extrinsic motivations work7 is that I’ve learned where to seek external motivators. When I want to feel as though I’ve done a good job, I know where and who to talk to. When I want an excuse to not do something, I do the same. So, while to some, it may seem that I am intrinsically motivated, it helps me live my life better knowing that I am extrinsically motivated.
First Published: 2019 January 26
Yesterday was another long bus ride. I should really remember to finish my posts before getting on them, because they drain me far too much. But, as it was, so it appears to continue to be.