Owner: Despair and Coffee URL:http://www.despairandcoffee.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 18:20:27 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Meager existential ruminations on the meaning of life, the elusiveness of true love, and the apparent silence God, with cynical humor deliberately employed so I don't sound suicidal. Site statistics:Click here
Blog Carnival: Life, love, God, and other questions 2007-06-30 11:06:43 This is the inaugural issue of a bi-weekly carnival. The initial submission guidelines were broad, allowing posts dealing within the range of topics presented here at Despair and Coffee. In later issues I hope to revise the criteria for greater clarification and thematic unity. If you have any ideas or would be interested in hosting a future issue of this carnival at your own blog, please email me. In the meantime, consider this selection of the best and most relevant from the many posts submitted.Rory Sullivan presents Everyone believes in God - Some children are just angry at their parents posted at hamelife, saying, “The atheist knows there is a God - it’s just that he is furious with Him.”William Dvorak presents Selfishness, defined posted at The First Creation, from an Objectivi Read more:Carnival
, questions
, Blog Carnival
Ron Paul: A constitutionalist among politicians 2007-06-28 17:12:19 My original concept for Despair and Coffee was to create a blog which reflected on the human experience and the typical anxieties accompanying it, nothing much more than that. I wanted to stay somewhat distant from issues of theology and politics since both are highly divisive, polarizing, and at times, alienating. However, given the polemical nature of some of the posts, delving into theology has been unavoidable, for better or worse. And now, after some thought, I’ve decided to venture into the political forum.The more I consider my political values, the more I recognize an affinity with libertarianism. I am ardently opposed to big government and its continually expanding cost and power. I find it disturbing that the hefty, perpetually increasing taxes imposed upon citizens fuel an eve Read more:politicians
, Ron Paul
Thinking Blogger Award 2007-06-28 16:01:22 Random Magus recently tagged me with the Thinking BloggerAward
, a meme created by Ilker Yoldas of The Thinking Blog. The rules, as outlined by Ilker, go as follows: If, and only if, you are tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger
Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.Since I have recently taken up writing as my new pastime, I have frequented numerous blogs and found many to be quite interesting. This list isn’t exhaustive, of course, but the following are five noteworthy blogs with which I may not always agree, but certainly have made me think.Nick Queen covers many topics, including recent events, politics, theology, and pop cultu Read more:Thinking Blogger Award
Betrayal of the deepest kind… 2007-06-20 08:19:34 In tough times the tendency is to rely on our closest friends for support and camaraderie. Life provides few people with whom we may reveal our true selves in unguarded confidence. For me, difficulties typically reaffirm how fortunate I am to have such people in my life. The stalwart presence of good friends provides a buttress against the onslaughts of life. The awareness that others have our back and best interests in mind grants solace and security in the midst of personal upheaval. Sometimes, however, those we have allowed closest to us contribute to those upheavals. There are few experiences like having a good friend stand behind you during hardship, and there are also few experiences like being sold out by one you considered an authentic friend.During the greater portion of my high s Read more:Betrayal
Concerning the vacillations of young love, part 1 2007-06-12 20:53:53 You know the story: A guy and girl meet, fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. And if you have even been in a romantic relationship, you will also know that this simplistic depiction does not quite represent how things typically play out. A more realistic and common synopsis would be: A guy and girl meet, fall in love, soon become beset with doubts, wonder what they are even doing in the relationship, and generally torment themselves with questions concerning desire, compatibility, and destiny…The outcome is varied. Resolution may be found in time, through talking things out, analyzing oneself, breaking up and moving on, or through some other manner. The idea is that dating relationships never merely jump from “falling in love” to “happily ever after.”There comes Read more:young
Concerning the vacillations of young love, part 2 2007-06-12 20:52:26 You’ve heard the colloquialism, opposites attract. The conventional truth of this statement is undeniable. Many people, when explaining what originally attracted them to their spouse, describe the most alluring characteristics as those different from their own. “He was always thinking ahead, secretly planning surprises. It was thrilling,” or, “She was very spontaneous, suggesting the craziest things at such odd times… I wasn’t used to it.” It is often the unfamiliar and foreign which we find most remarkable and beautiful. Yet, within such relationships it seems that there must be some basic commonality which underlies the diversity of preference, personality, ethnicity, interests and experiences.The most intimate relationships are those grounded in shared goals, ethics, belie Read more:young
The proximity of death 2007-06-09 22:53:59 It is easy during an ordinary childhood to take for granted the austere temporality of human subsistence. A child’s life is one of apparent suspended animation in which most change is all but imperceptible. One’s known reality of being dependent and compliant hardly seems a short-lived phase during those years. Driving a car, attending high school, and impending adulthood are inevitable but seem so distant they may as well not even be called certainties.For me, death
was a feature of life quite removed from my immediate frame of reference. I attended multiple funerals, mostly for elderly people within the church who were acquaintances of my parents, and once when I was five for an out-of-state relative. However, these early exposures were largely unaffecting since they did not hit clos
The accommodating, tolerant Jesus 2007-06-08 17:22:32 Who is Jesus
to you? Ask around and the incoming responses would certainly be diverse, influenced by anecdotal reflection and experience as well as social factors such as culture, ethnicity, and denominational affiliation. I suspect that many of these images would prove strikingly different from the portrayals in the gospels. Jesus tends to be de-contextualized, removed from the historical circumstance in which he lived, taught, and died, his words often misconstrued and applied to any given situation in which they seem to fit according to convention or personal conviction. Just as politicians and rhetoricians appeal to religious sentiment, adopting Jesus to bolster their particular platform or agenda, many fashion Jesus and his teaching according to their own perception or likeness.A prev
Forthcoming bliss and satisfaction 2007-06-08 17:22:23 I catch myself frequently assigning a date other than the present for whenever I’ll feel satisfied with my daily life. Some of it’s procrastination; I tend to put off today what (I convince myself) can be done tomorrow. I dread the hours my 20 page research paper will require so I put it off hoping that in another day I actually want to sit at my computer for hours on end. My quality of life, I tell myself, will improve exponentially when it’s done. I’ll be able to get up in the early morning and sip coffee by the window while reading the news, workout and run before noon, taking the rest of the day to read and write what I want … whenever the paper’s done.I can’t mentally dismiss assigned academic work, as some apparently can, and blissfully watch movies or hang out. Whether
A love realized and explicated 2007-06-08 17:19:01 I few evenings ago at the roadhouse I served an elderly gentleman somewhere between his late sixties and early seventies. He sat alone in a booth with room for six, peering through his glasses at the menu before him. When I approached the table he struck up a conversation by asking if I was a student. After I respond with a yes, he inquired further about my future plans and how I wished to use my degree.At some point after I had brought his food to the table he remarked that he wasn’t used to being at restaurants and looking across the table to an empty seat instead of seeing his “favorite girl.” He quietly explained that his wife had fallen and broken her hip a week before and had been hospitalized ever since. Each day he would drive the hour trip to spend around four hours with her
The successful, wealthy Jesus 2007-06-04 01:34:32 One conception ardently embraced within certain Christian movements, is that Jesus
promised prosperity to his followers, both those modern and contemporaneous with him, including physical health, psychological well-being, but most notably, affluence and wealth. The inevitable implication is that those who are sick, depressed, or in dire financial straights are not conjuring up their faith, and therefore, by extension, deserve their situation. The primary assumption behind this position is that Christianity will bring success, happiness, and material fortune.In some permutations, this belief takes the form of a self-esteem mantra devoid of Jesus’ teaching of sin and guilt before God. In this form, Christianity becomes about feeling good and attaining a “victorious” and vibrant earthly
Even more rejoinders 2007-05-31 14:15:19 This blog is further continuation of the dialogue with my friend Jonathan which was initiated by the post Questions of God. Jonathan’s reaction to Rejoinders and amicable concern, part 3 may be found in the comment section below that post. This post will follow the format of his latest response which purports to raise four major observations regarding the position I have already articulated. What follows is my rebuttal.Observation 1:I did not expect this further clarification to be necessary since I believed that the opening of the last post on this subject would sufficiently clear up any possible misinterpretation. Here is my original provoking statement from “Rejoinder 2” in context. I begin by quoting Jonathan and then give my analysis:Jonathan writes, "The erroneous oversight in
Rejoinders and amicable concern, part 1 2007-05-31 13:55:50 A close yet geographically removed friend, Jonathan, posted the following on Facebook in response to my recent blog about questioning God. The two of us are clearly situated at diverging points theologically and philosophically but note that this dialogue is colored by an underlying sense of sarcasm and friendly banter.His post:"I'll pray for you my agnostic friend...doubting even the existence of the Christian God are you...I would expect this much to be the result of a ... grad theology student, but I also assumed you were anchored enought [sic] both experientially and philosophically to combat it. As impressed as i am by your flarely prose, I am sobered by your epistemological ambiguity stemming from your blanket autonomous reasoning seemingly detached altogether from the authority of t
Announcement: Blog Carnival 2007-05-31 02:38:53 On June 30, I will be posting a compilation of links to other blog posts which consider issues similar to those that I address. The intention is to bring together honest and reflective posts on the realities of life and the personal and philosophical journey one must take. The range of possible topics for submission is broad, in a sense, but must display thoughtful consideration of the basic and common questions pertaining to love, human existence, and God.Submissions do not need to be philosophical or theological in nature, personal reflections are equally eligible. However, submission does not guarantee inclusion in the carnival. That determination will be based upon how closely the submission corresponds to the (broad) guidelines. You may submit your postings here, if there are any ques Read more:Carnival
, Blog Carnival
, Announcement
Rejoinders and amicable concern, part 2 2007-05-31 02:35:36 This blog is a continued dialogue which was initiated by the post Questions of God. My original intent behind that post wasn’t to delve into weighty theological issues and analytic philosophy, but rather to explore personal doubts and questions on an experiential level. However, Jonathan, a close friend, responded and prompted me to think further, taking it beyond the existential level. Jonathan’s first response, my initial rejoinder, and his rebuttal (to which I’m now responding) can be found in the comment section below Rejoinders and amicable concern, part 1. Again, note that this is a conversation over differing ideological concepts, not some harbored hostility.Presuppositional apologetics and human reasonThe position articulated by Jonathan is heavily indebted to what has been c
Rejoinders and amicable concern, part 3 2007-05-31 02:33:05 This blog is part of a continue dialogue initiated by the post Questions of God. Jonathan’s reaction to part 2 may be found in the comment section below that post. What follows is my response.Clarifications and reiterationsIn Jonathan’s recent response to my last post on this topic, I was taken to task over what he interpreted to be an absurd misconstrual of his conceptualization of the nature and composition of the Bible. However, I never accused him of believing in a “purely divine production” which, implied by his allegation, evidently excludes the involvement of human agents and their distinct contexts, personalities, perspectives, and experiences. I realize that Jonathan recognizes the reality of human authors behind the text of the Bible and the particularity unique to each.
Questions of God 2007-05-25 15:00:23 One of the major obstacles to belief in a benevolent God is the abundance of gratuitous evil in the world. Unwarranted suffering is ubiquitous, pervading human existence. If one cares to look, situations of severe anguish and horrendous evil can be found everywhere, from Darfur and New Orleans to Indonesia and Blacksburg, Virginia. A traditional resolution or theodicy is to uphold human freedom and God’s resolve to allow human beings to act out of their own volition. This rationalization, however, doesn’t seem to address the inherent moral dilemma. Perhaps, freewill leading to suffering is understandable in cases of self-destruction, but what of situations where the innocent, especially children, fall prey to the will of the abusers, persecutors, and afflictors?If God is omnipotent, it
The dehumanizing effect of selfishness 2007-05-25 13:44:24 The brazen egoism rampant in society never fails to amaze me. I cannot understand how people unhesitatingly indulge their self-absorption and walk around with such unmerited auras of entitlement. It is a common and pervasive practice to disregard those encountered in the course of one’s day, treating others as mere occupiers of social roles, such as receptionists, employees, customers, salesmen, waiters, etc. We all have been guilty of this objectification, though in varying degrees of intensity and frequency. Some, however, habitually relegate the other solely to the capacity or function he or she occupies in their lives, never considering the other’s distinct personhood. This narcissistic attitude is conveyed in the way these sorts engage with other people, their behavior and interac Read more:effect
Love, from abstraction to application 2007-05-21 14:36:56 It is much easier to conceptualize love than it is to consistently demonstrate it in a practical, lived-out manner. Many can articulate lofty ideals of enduring faithfulness and mutual sacrifice in glowing abstract terms but its application in trivial and emotive daily affairs is deficient. It's hard to anticipate the abrasive conflicts that arise in relationships within or intending towards marriage. Once the initial romance and infatuation subsides and the individuals began to grow comfortable in the relationship their true personalities and characteristics show through, particularly the negative aspects. Part of the reason is that a sense of security and normality has been attained and, conversely, a tendency to take the relationship for granted. Conflicts typically arise over seemingly
Personal upheavals of multiple varieties 2007-05-19 16:55:09 I was in my early teens, a couple years from graduating high school. It had been a typical day around house so far, nothing to do other than the laundry. As I headed upstairs from the basement a searing pain suddenly clenched my chest and seemed to twist it around my spine. My throat burned and tightened. I dropped to my knees and fell to the floor, tense with pain, terrified that I was dying of cardiac arrest. The sensation passed after about five minutes and everything seemed normal. I didn’t mention the incident to anyone, just dismissed it as indigestion.It was the second semester of freshman year in college and I was grabbing a quick lunch in the cafeteria in between classes. I had introduced myself to a guy sitting alone – freshmen are outgoing like that – and he offered me a s Read more:Personal
Perpetual discontentment 2007-05-14 20:29:29 Loneliness and discontentment are inherent to being human. It’s ordinary for people to want their lives to have significance and to feel that their existence has a reason and purpose. As self-conscious beings, we recognize, unlike other animals, that our lives are temporal, that one day we will die. The internal ache for meaning resounds, its echo reaching us when all is silent and we’re in our most unguarded moments. A common method of dealing with this is to drown out the empty purposelessness with activity and busyness.Our modern society offers many avenues to quiet the sounds of one’s inner unrest, with scores of music and iPods to play it on, social networking, and cozy coffee shops with light jazz or indie tempering the atmosphere. Some people can’t handle the silence of bein
Conceptualizing an enduring love 2007-05-14 02:20:09 When asked to define the nature of love, people tend to reach in many directions for insight, from anecdotal reflection on their personal lives to the larger familial and cultural values they have assimilated. One arrives at a conception of love through analysis and synthesis of his or her own experiences with the ideals that have been gleaned from external sources. This process is both conscious and unconscious in that it is an amalgamation of deliberate acts of reflection and unwitting adoption of values through environmental immersion and observation of what has been modeled by parents and others.Perhaps the most immediately accessible source is popular media. Compelling conceptions can be found in music, film, books, etc., and may be overt or subliminal. At times love, as presented, is
Pondering the afterlife 2007-05-11 11:46:33 For whatever reason, the notion of an afterlife has (apparently) existed throughout human history in one form or another. Perhaps, even in the primeval ages nonexistence was too much for people to comprehend so they developed metaphysical paradigms to shield against the anxiety. In ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, the person was thought to continue existing after death as a ghost restricted to the netherworld. Death was accepted as final, even then. Once one descended down the path of no return, there was no leaving the netherworld. Gilgamesh’s quest for immortality was averted, the unequivocal rationale being that immortality was reserved for the gods.More recent notions of the afterlife, such as heaven and hell, no doubt help alleviate existential anxiety and counter th
Irony and the movies 2007-05-11 03:05:05 I find it rather ironic that George Lucas recently called Spider-Man 3 “silly”, implying that the movie is nothing more than shallow entertainment. "There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?" That’s something like Bush chastising Blair for not withdrawing from Iraq; or the Chicago Bears starting Superbowl quarterback Rex Gross chiding secondary Brian Griese for failing to complete a pass. Read more:Irony
, movies
Suspended commencement 2007-05-05 15:52:08 The bells have ceased their tolling and most of the Dodge Caravans left three hours ago. Another graduation ceremony has passed and several hundred people are now officially (and presumably) launched onto bigger and better things. Those involved no doubt sensed the monumental nature of the event with their family thronging about cajoling them to pose for endless photos. The campus, however, is now barren, the only movement belonging to the few straggling employees removing the decorative banners brought out only for the occasion. The cool gray sky and the calls of birds accentuate the unusual vacancy.I recall watching my family’s minivan pull away after being dropped off my freshman year. I wondered what I was in for and if I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Five years later and
For those who care ... 2008-05-17 13:46:20 Despair and Coffee is not dead. Look for the blog's return in the summer of '08 at its own domain (DespairandCoffee.com). Until then ...
Recommend Site To A Friend
