tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21888042467319747052012-02-16T05:11:23.650-05:00life, faith, overcomingMark Alfanonoreply@blogger.comBlogger651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-20457579252100107872008-10-18T21:56:00.005-04:002008-10-18T22:17:14.722-04:00

I feel lousy right now, kind of in that all encompassing way commonly referred to as the Flu.On the rare occasion when I feel sick enough to climb into bed and stay there it occurs to me how profitable it is. I'm convinced that something happens spiritually to us when we're forced undercover. I believe God refines us. He works every so subtly, stripping away our "superman" complex, the one that

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-68454795300979122112008-10-15T09:41:00.001-04:002008-10-15T09:46:38.922-04:00

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-28634001054989262832008-10-15T09:15:00.008-04:002008-10-15T10:03:06.589-04:00

Things are moving. And not.The Lily project is stalled due to re-edits and the need for a firmer direction. Shooting the Matt Davis video this weekend. Stewart Financial, the presentation, went well; dynamic, powerful, fertile, smart ... expensive?I think they loved my efforts to really wind them out, but I have a feeling they don't like the price. They move a lot of dough these guys, but one

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-52976255938475966862008-09-09T08:34:00.002-04:002008-09-09T08:42:12.568-04:00

We have just about completed the video section of loveheals.TVIt's all good; my thanks to Dominika Dittwald for her tremendous gifts and to God for sending her my way. She frees me to dream. Next up is the Website, which is like already 3-weeks behind. I am so careful, which is really just prudence now that I know how simple it is to make any type of the usually wrong assumption. Go slow and get

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-87911677106664296762008-08-19T18:26:00.003-04:002008-09-09T08:31:54.775-04:00

Can't Give What You Don't Have, Pontiff RecallsUrges Christians to Stay Close to Holy SpiritBRESSANONE, Italy, AUG. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that Christians have to stay close to the Holy Spirit if they want to be able to transmit him to others.The Pope affirmed this Aug. 6 when he met with priests, deacons and seminarians of the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone and answered six

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-60388123369855897242008-08-18T22:33:00.007-04:002008-09-09T08:33:08.665-04:00

It's interesting how we moderate our expectations as we get older. Less is more, so to speak. How we learn to appreciate those golden moments when life stops being hard and just skates. Effortlessly. Not for long. Maybe just from here to there. Even for the tiniest while. Tomorrow I meet with a financial services company to talk about "YouTube"-ing them. I hardly see a fit, but the money could

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-53882055823853037932008-08-18T11:02:00.002-04:002008-08-18T11:09:25.762-04:00

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-20848417868030862382008-08-03T23:16:00.002-04:002008-08-03T23:33:51.667-04:00

Take heed not to meddle in things which do not concern you, nor even allow them to pass through your mind; for perhaps then you will be able to fulfil your own task. -- St. John of the Cross***With Marilyn and the kids away I have time for time. What a luxury to be able to work on work with the knowledge that I don't have to rush. I will never take for granted again "free time." It is a blessing

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-52592889580271963822008-08-03T22:53:00.006-04:002008-08-03T23:15:44.395-04:00

God is ready to heal those who sincerely wish to amend their lives, but cannot take pity on the obstinate sinner. The Lord pardons sins, but He cannot pardon those who are determined to offend Him. He who receives pardon is pardoned through the pure mercy of God, and they who are chastised, are justly punished. God is not obliged to wait for your repentance.-- St. Alphonsus Liguori***I find this

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-77370777425279700692008-07-15T17:25:00.004-04:002008-08-18T22:49:26.122-04:00

Wow, the summer is half over and that sucks! The kids have been at day-camp virtually every day and are off to Teopoli -- all of them!! -- for 12 days soon. Marilyn is leaving for Quebec a few days after. Leaving me here to work and generate the living income everyone needs to return to. Sweet kid:

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-81391464256926595502008-06-04T11:42:00.026-04:002008-07-03T08:57:56.966-04:00

Getting rich takes total dedication of will, not heart. Oligarchs and run of the mill up-and-comers drop just about every extra weight in order to travel light on their way up the wall of success. Contemporary relationships, being conveniently throwaway, like used Kleenex, fit the gameplan perfectly. The rich are dead in a way, more dead than they know (although they tend to look great!). The (bl

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-51579688682451891202008-06-03T18:24:00.012-04:002008-08-18T22:48:02.200-04:00

I'm going to be older than ever in just a few days. By now I think I thought I would have been very successful, leisurely awash in pet projects, dedicated to making life more interesting and hopefully better, generally speaking, for all concerned. Well, at least I stopped drinking. Things are probably better than they've been for a while. Sort of slightly coming together (finally maybe) although

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-83963338994496367212008-06-02T21:38:00.009-04:002008-07-03T09:43:07.619-04:00

I want to believe that everyone is, at some point, aware of the spiritual battles waging (raging) in and around us, for and against us. The world is filled with noxious fumes. Lying, cheating, betrayal, murder class for 10 year olds found on just about any video game. Neurotic teachers pushing unreasonable curriculums. Parents stressed beyond anything, giving their best to strangers and their

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-35744500193839905602008-02-26T19:10:00.006-05:002008-12-09T18:49:17.662-05:00

 for my favourite Saturday night group. something unexpected ; D

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-17923884676561047152008-02-18T18:43:00.015-05:002008-12-09T18:49:17.910-05:00

Here's a truth about me: I always, always want to do better. And I can feel this sense of drive & dis-satisfaction all the time if I allow myself to; which I don't, because then I would be pretty much disappointed 24-7.My faith keeps me chugging along (minus the booze). I can see in the daily struggle to be or do "more" that bigger stuff is being worked through the process of daily life,

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-12400494922233468392008-01-28T08:49:00.002-05:002008-12-09T18:49:18.368-05:00

God is love.It was the center of Sunday's Mass and homily message. We talked about it at Saturday evening's youth group. And I've been thinking about it a lot too.A lot-alot.Because, well ... God. Is. Love.He makes us in His image; His life, mixed with ours, courses through our veins. And I believe this love seeks to generate ever more of the same by reaching out through each of us to the world

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-517478012993993522008-01-20T11:02:00.002-05:002008-12-09T18:49:18.609-05:00

I want to be a house of light. I want God's light inside of me so that I, too, can be a light to the world.That's my only real ambition.But where will the light come from? Will God grant it freely or will I have to find it to acquire it? Or perhaps go begging with outstretched heart & hands? Whichever way, I am willing.I want to be a house of light so that everything I do tells others God's

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-76550576735663168542008-01-18T09:29:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:49:18.795-05:00

We're born with it, this itch to do something, make something, invent something. Maybe it's cooking. Or building with Lego. Maybe it's singing songs no one else will hear. Maybe it's carefully planning a kind of spontaneous expression with paint, pencil, chalk, or chocolate. Or sitting at a piano, touching down different notes until they fall into pleasant form. Whatever it is we all have it in

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-9648261963751701652008-01-15T22:40:00.003-05:002008-12-09T18:49:18.819-05:00

Joan of Arc was maid [sorry, couldn't resist] to love God with her all; to drink of His surpassing love, while suffering greatly her yearning for deepening unity with He Who engulfs, refines, renews (and in Joan's case-- annihilates) so that she in her imperfection, and we in ours, may draw near.Her example (like those of many saints) points to vast landscapes of interior life God desires to open

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-62658907352691572852008-01-14T07:56:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.008-05:00

There are a few basic precepts around how to reach God effectively, where the request for (re-)connection is less a demand for personal leverage (to be diplomatic) and more an appeal for reconciliation; less a form of trite manipulation on your terms, more a humble admittance of your own past wrong-doings on His. So the 'Up' button might better be called a 'Down' rope, to the extent that we get

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-71715898659622000252008-01-13T23:17:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.153-05:00

I don't want to be one of those people who take forever to get to the punch-line; or like a soap-opera that moves ahead like a limping snail, drag out the climax forever.What I really want to do is just tell you what you need to do to get God's attention. Because it's what you and me and everybody else, more than anything, really wants to know. And once we leave aside the old "God isn't listening

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-32224781944225988662008-01-07T09:00:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.435-05:00

The realization of needing or wanting to become "reset" must necessarily come with the humble understanding that on our own we tend to drift pretty far off-line from where we started.We get slimed or slime ourselves usually because we want to vest our personal interests in someone else's abilities, power or connectedness, hoping for success-by-extension (hitching your wagon to someone else's

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-7934598552194544822008-01-04T16:13:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.739-05:00

... We have this somehow innate belief that the most difficult things in life can be turned around, with the right combination of helpful techniques (viz 'The Secret') in something akin to the wink of an eye.In a sense this is true. Yet only God can definitively accomplish it. Only He can rescue us from our lastest peril in something like miraculous time. In fact He does this regularly, though

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-8212477798132754362008-01-03T12:27:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.868-05:00

Here is a Truth. It is one I have lived and continue to live when the worst parts of me (cue the flesh) override my undisputed, God-given, best sense (cue the Spirit).I hate to admit that I have this quandary more frequently than I like or should. But there it is. The unreconciled stuff, brought closer to the surface by God`s sanctifying blow-torch, just throbs, like a cartoon thumb, after so

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-50571727652390109632008-01-02T21:11:00.000-05:002008-12-09T18:49:19.996-05:00

Push reset. That's the way to undo all the goo. But the button isn't always so simple to find. To begin to find it, one must become honest, to the point of self-scrutiny (by that I don't mean merciless self-scrutiny or scrupulosity, that kind of personal assessment that just always only hurts, but the other kind that is a little more flexible and negotiable and forgiving, considering that we're

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-49133998880372456112007-12-23T22:45:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:49:20.206-05:00

Slime, as in compromise. Self-slime, as in willinglingly mucking yourself in those veritable half-truths that course so easily from your lips as you seek to get ahead (as you meet your boss' glassey stare and realize your paycheck likely depends on his/her continued acceptance of what you think and say). Which simply means accurately guessing at what they want you to think and say, and doing so

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-66240779906673430712007-11-26T21:49:00.001-05:002008-12-09T18:49:20.359-05:00

On the launch of M. Blouin's first collection of poetry, "I'm Not Going to Lie to You" -- 4 former professional liars pose cheekily for the camera. Left to right, me, "blind" Mike, Pete the "Coronetist", and the author.Our first time together again in 17 years.

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-2278496764083554192007-10-30T08:22:00.003-04:002008-12-09T18:49:20.497-05:00

People who don't feel figure they have it all figured out.It isn't reason they cling to (don't be fooled), but a wordly "wisdom" that requires them to push back and away from anything and everything that might compromise their goals & ambitions. The unfeeling believe that feeling is a discretionary art, with an on/off switch. They believe they can handle everything by simply managing externals,

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-10424883108999388972007-10-29T22:06:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:20.837-05:00

We are all to some degree caught up in the compression of daily living, which seems more and more to manifest itself, increasingly articulately so, through the ocean of our repressed feelings. I figure you probably either feel intimately the reality of all that's terribly wrong, twisted, broken and breaking, in this ludicrously strange season of time, or ... you don't feel anything at all.

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-72077657648397237952007-10-21T21:50:00.000-04:002007-10-28T20:07:26.541-04:00

... back from betwixt and between after an intense account slough. meet (as soon as the pix upload widget starts working again) the latest bookmarks for Delta Hotels, starring my new company moniker, "redeploy." i really wanted to land just "ploy," but the cunning brat was already taken. visited the "meeting house" today. bruxy is marvelously messy, and so grass roots i half expected to see wild

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-45089800872224238172007-09-03T21:27:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:21.087-05:00

The world is crazy. It's also becoming blatantly evil.Rob Zombie, an avowed Satanist, has moved from the Hollywood fringes to the mainstream (sort of) with his remake of the horror film Halloween, which is totally raking it in at the box office.Meanwhile, a practising wiccan fella just won a major lottery in the US (in the neighborhood of 100-mil), which he owes to promises made to his "gods"

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-7202646834835059492007-08-26T21:12:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:21.267-05:00

It's for a calling card company. My favourite part is what I call my "angel icon" in the lower right hand corner. God (glory be) in everything I do. -- m1230

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-29076818797610141542007-08-22T19:24:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:21.430-05:00

I've had this idea for a while for a film about a guy who is chosen by God to help prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus.He is faithful, but ordinary-- Life is good -- until his fateful mugging by thugs (agents of the enemy) who beat him and leave him for dead. The film follows the man's exploits as events conspire to reveal who he really is and what his real purpose is, which

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-64607288485218277812007-08-13T12:49:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:21.689-05:00

I want to touch on the "First Miracle" noted earlier.The amazing thing about faith, faith in Jesus Christ to be sure, is that once in, once inside the gate or sheepfold, there are a few things you can take to the bank. The first is, that accepting Christ as Lord means that you are now on God's VIP list, albeit by grace & adoption, and mediated by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. There are probably

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-65021204304654001842007-08-08T10:01:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:21.852-05:00

Hi guys,I've missed a few posts because … we moved. Well, Marilyn and the kids did. Yep, it sucks and it's really hard to feel inspired about saving grace when you're sinking in quick-sand (while holding furniture over your head).So I'm staying alone in this empty house taking stock of things, trying to discern the best way forward.I remain committed to building MTS as a road-map to greater

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-88728731383600236332007-08-04T16:54:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:22.058-05:00

Blissful Beginnings 2BThe lint that sticks is sin.So what’s happening?Sin is.Sin, the result of a dissenting free-will, is ...Sin, the result of reckless and rebellious abandon, is ...Sin, the result of eschewing God’s Way for the world’s way, is …Sin, the punishment incurred by Adam & Eve for their disobedience in the Garden of Eden and the subsequent imprinting of that "original" sin on all of

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-25946805969258713102007-08-02T07:14:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:22.231-05:00

Blissful Beginnings 2We are magnets for spiritual lint.It's how we're made. Original sin, an inseparable part of our human DOS, starts flapping from the get-go to teach, goad, prompt and persuade us to make decisions that further our ambitions and appetites. Mercenary as it sounds, it is an inherent process. And one that’s recognizable to all of us.Our conscience keeps us in check for a while,

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-5357541563219093442007-07-30T10:20:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:22.522-05:00

Looking like the world, commodifying or branding ourselves in its continually shifting image, is all the rage. The question is, Should we Christians adopt the same prevailing attitudes and outward appearances as everyone else? Or is this "conformity" a catalyst of defeat in disguise that really says, Getting you to like and accept me is more important than anything [?].What’s scary is that by

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-23065486696748755272007-07-29T09:18:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:22.680-05:00

Blissful Beginnings 1What if we stopped trying to wriggle out of everything unpleasant and started accepting whatever comes our way as just some indispensable part of the big plan? (God speaks in all things, after all).What if instead of endlessly buffing our exteriors, we started living out a fuller life experience from within?And what if, instead of being increasingly bi-polar in our

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-40801870067545568572007-07-27T10:46:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:22.829-05:00

Hey Music Lover,You can reach me at membertosmile@yahoo.caBy all means, pls keep commenting! MTS is undergoing a gradual build-up to what I hope will eventually become a blog-space with something actually relevant and useful to offer.Right now, it's all mostly off-the-cuff commentary (with a lot of fine-tuning as you know), but as soon as I can I will introduce topical themes that showcase the

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-84820906688801882482007-07-24T16:50:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:23.112-05:00

When the going gets tough, we grow.Interesting how the richest times in Holy Scripture aren't the times when the big miracle comes, but the times leading up to it.The time after the miracle is what I call the big sigh of relief moment [BSORM], the place where we set foot safely on the opposite side of a swollen river, check to make sure we’re still in one piece (grin appreciatively), and start

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-5970690816368157472007-07-21T15:05:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:23.283-05:00

Hey Music Lover, I don't know how to reply to my comments. Next time, pls leave an email.-- m1230

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-75446712609737740602007-07-20T17:27:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:23.459-05:00

Working on another Start-up idea which I can't share at the moment. One of the fun things about starting something is that you get to name it too. So I sat in Starbucks today talking to the baristas and just jotting down whatever flashes of inspiration came to mind. And believe it or not, the prhase “Hot Tamale!” popped into my brain, which is goofy and kinda fun and totally silly.And then I

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-77479607241025822972007-07-20T14:40:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:23.898-05:00

I am an inveterate re-poster. I work on things over and over until my inner-sense tells me it's time to let it go. This isn't something I can really change. It's the way I am. God has given me an eye to see what can be, and in my humanity, requires that I struggle to make it so.When I was younger this was torment. I was always in a hurry to be rich, popular, famous, or at least elsewhere. I

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-39826620792618322282007-07-19T20:59:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:24.460-05:00

But if I say, "I will not remember Him Or speak anymore in His name," Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; And I am weary of holding it in, And I cannot endure it. [The Book of Jeremiah Chapter 20, Verse 9]... before Jesus that is, before we heard Him knocking and let Him in …… that’s what it was like, I remember.But now it's different. Different mainly because it

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-81021202847907917332007-07-19T13:05:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:24.561-05:00

[Welcome Music Lover, Hey Stefa]The currency of ideas and making ourselves feel better.I was born to create. Actually I was born-again to create.It's in me, like some passionate affliction, this unresolved need, to do something smart, streamlined, beautiful: something wanted and valued.The challenge is sometimes visual, sometimes conceptual. Always personal. Whatever it is at root, this need to

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-28138637674893093732007-07-17T23:14:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:24.793-05:00

In my previous post (Inny or Outy?), I made the general observation is that we often struggle with our home and away selves. By that I mean, we can be loving to strangers and unusually strange to those we love.This weird inversion is more common, I think, than the common cold. It’s in us to want to be attractive to and accepted by the people we meet, partly because every new contact or repeat

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-62016796525513962612007-07-16T15:57:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:25.178-05:00

How weird is it for a professional encourager to attend counseling sessions for relationship help with his closest intimates?Well, it's normal to the degree that we can't always see the forest for the trees (the trees being the people we wake up with) no matter how hard we want to; and it's normal also to the degree that it should be normal to want to help others whether near or far. But just how

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-61097275570739402822007-07-16T15:45:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:25.229-05:00

Feeling better just got easier with RSS (by Feedburner).Will it make a difference? Will you?Sorry, that's kinda lippy. What I means is, I believe if we walk together every day in some better direction than the one you're leaning in now, then, well, anything can happen ...... Anything good that is ... ... and that decision's yours.Now, I'm still new to all this and if any of you out there have

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-74920663434486040172007-07-13T15:00:00.001-04:002008-12-09T18:49:25.440-05:00

With sin & selfishness snuffing out so much hope, getting a positive word from anyone is pretty rare indeed. Growing up can be especially hard. People have expectations of you, mixed in with their fears (in most cases), and they tend to hand off to us what got handed on to them.Hurting people hurt people …So for the most part, parents just don't really know how to nurture the beauty and innocence

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-23315782524952401562007-07-13T10:50:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:25.617-05:00

Who doesn't want to feel great, or at least better?The world is filled with people just waiting for someone to believe in them.But why is it that other people have to factor in to this at all? Why can't we just rev ourselves up all alone?Or, shouldn't my faith in God be enough?It's funny how, speaking from my own experience, other people can just light up my board.They bring something I don't

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-12959243536004059632007-07-12T11:00:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:25.748-05:00

Props to Kathryn and Michael for breaking bread with me, and listening.Someday the whole story will come out.The act of refinement – call it Refiner’s fire – can turn you into broken glass. On legs.You stumble around, carrying within you this act of spiritual conquest, the battle that brings (eventual) victory, feeling everything intensely; the hope, the heartbreak, the gratitude …… the

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-46240098019532165482007-07-11T15:42:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:26.011-05:00

My mom and dad would have been married 54-years today. Mom died in '01 and Dad in '03. And in between we lost my sister's husband Maurice. So a tough run.My mom was super-woman. She made life run effortlessly. I lived in a museum growing up, everything perfectly in place. She worked so hard at it, and I never understood it. I do now.I know how tough it was for her growing up. She wanted to make

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-9658295970849701522007-07-11T15:37:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:26.327-05:00

Gotta love the journey. It’s all about discovery, right? Figuring out the right way after learning what not to do, where not to go.Eventually all the wandering wears us down. But where to next?The beauty of faith is that we find out life isn’t just a series of random collisions, but about people searching in different ways for their deeper purpose, which can’t really be uncovered on our own at

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-9732498346543071672007-07-09T23:36:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:26.537-05:00

 

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-3001825692100012732007-07-09T23:34:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:26.704-05:00

 

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-67541801241538269092007-07-09T23:09:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:26.932-05:00

 

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-27878011018504367292007-07-08T19:36:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:27.329-05:00

I found a jpeg of Frank yerby's "The Saracen Blade" on-line. It's the first real novel I read. My Dad gave it to me when I was about 12. He said it would help me go to sleep at night.Not really, I couldn't put it down.I plan to hand it off to my oldest this summer. Maybe we'll read it together.There's just something about your first great read. Does anyone even remember Frank Yerby?Good night

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-6232006914512848462007-07-06T12:48:00.000-04:002007-07-10T19:00:51.573-04:00

Emmaus. What does it mean? And why does it mean it?What does the mystery teach us? And what, exactly, is our "take-away?" supposed to be?I had a kinda mystical run-through, or script-session, about 3:30 this morning on the subject. Couldn't sleep. My mind whorled like a carousel as I tried and failed to muster up a decent course of action for today at a time when the only thing concrete under my

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-18137391259452579942007-07-05T12:30:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:27.521-05:00

Bella & Nav: "Stealth Mode"

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-30243729287814484652007-07-04T16:19:00.000-04:002007-07-12T17:20:06.908-04:00

Okay, listen to the following quote.It's from an obscure title I recently stumbled upon at the back of a goodwill store one lazy Saturday afternoon.The book is by Boris Simon (no, not the wrestler[?!]) who neatly documents the work of "Abbe Pierre and the Ragpickers of Emmaus," a community of France’s poorest who re-housed the homeless in post WWII France on land built on beggings and the sale of

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-12990538572223586642007-07-04T16:09:00.000-04:002008-12-09T18:49:27.710-05:00

Fr. Pete ("friend" of Bill W.)with his kid sis and me.

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-26058437412282974042007-07-03T14:15:00.000-04:002007-07-05T16:17:24.080-04:00

Made it thru the weekend in one piece. This business, this start-up thing, plays right havoc with everything from the toes up. Even my days off feel heavy and wet.Not a sou.Imagine being on the edge of your best, like Icharus (pre-free-fall) and no wind at your back. Now add in doubt (lotsuvit) and subtract faith, and what are you left with?For me, it's this haunted feeling; a peculiar

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-74491329313688703272007-07-01T22:11:00.001-04:002007-07-09T23:21:47.203-04:00

Hi!, it's Sunday. And I hope these words find you curled up, or at least hunched over, in a safe and happy place.I am thinking about the work it takes to live out my faith; how incredibly trying it is to face into the moral quagmire and come away with a clean complexion.The worst thing? As a Catholic, I would say it's this spreading, blighting, relative soup between right and wrong; a murky film

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2188804246731974705.post-6417315098093020202007-06-27T10:15:00.000-04:002007-06-27T10:18:39.287-04:00

Out of okcupid for obvious reasons. I wasn't there to "pick-up" anyone, just to watch (sounds suspicious) and learn; to gether inside dope to help a video project.Now I can just blab without worrying if anyone cares. [You do love me don't you?]It's also a better place (here) to hang artwork for others to see, which we'll get on with presently.

Mark Alfanonoreply@blogger.com0