I do understand why I like some styles of music, and not others. Sure, I can tell you that I prefer live music over studio because I feel the energy and passion comes through more effectively. OK, but why do is the energy so important to me?

Some music is popular with other people, yet not with me. Here are a four albums that I do not care for. They are now at Reverberation Vinyl for people who do like them.

The revival of the vinyl LP is a very interesting phenomenon. I am not sure why people who did not grow up with the LP being the only option for music ,are now buying LPs. I'm sure happy about it - it has created a large market in used LPs. Now I have somewhere (Reverberation Vinyl for me) to take the albums I don't listen to anymore, and swap them for ones I want.

I started listening to my albums that I have not touched in maybe 35 years, to weed out the ones I still liked and the ones that need to be "recycled."

It is an interesting voyage through memories, listening to these past favorites. I recalled places and people I have not thought of in years. Nostalgia.

Well, here are some examples of albums I decided to keep.

I watched the film "A Clockwork Orange" last weekend. It has been years since I saw it. This is one of those movies people of my generation (I was born in 1956) know about. Classic.

I was struck by how the issue of violent crime and what to do about it has not changed. We still don't know. Yet, the portrayal of the crime victims was the most poignant to me; justice was not served to them. Plus, the public and government never considered what they wanted.

Yeah, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

 This is one of my favorite Bible stories.

I noticed this headline today in my news feed:

To Help New Students Adapt, Some Colleges Are Eliminating Grades

I was stunned at the rationalizations made for removing letter grades (scoring a student's work). Mental health issues due to grades? Well, no, unless the stress of achieving those grades is defined as a "mental health issue."

Studying, being tested upon what you studied, is now a "mental health" issue?

Unfortunately, NPR chose to continue the political divide by using the "conservative" term as a definition for the opposing viewpoint. Why label opinions in that manner, NPR?

The article was particularly interesting because I've been reading Andrew Root's book, "The End of Youth Ministry?" I'm a fan of Dr. Root's books.

Here are a few quotes from the book that I was trying to wrap my head around:

It becomes a parent’s primary job to protect the child from emotional injury so that the child never gets the idea that his chosen identity is wrong or bad.

Emotional injury is terrifying because it threatens to damage the internal self, like frying the internal circuits of your computer’s motherboard by plugging in too many unsafe USB devices. To be emotionally injured brings a dark, stormy chaos to the internal quest, making life much harder. Emotional injury can strike in two directions, both of which frighten parents. First, emotional injury risks upending (or negatively redirecting) the construction of identity. It is assumed that because of your emotional injury, you can never be happy with who you are. Second, emotional injury can happen when a young person who is expressing her chosen identity finds no one to embrace it, no one who recognizes her unique expressions of her unique self. She’s emotionally injured because she feels like her way of being her is recognized only by haters.

Dr. Root is making an observation about high school and college kids from the viewpoint of the parents and their child in this "age of authenticity."

I am interested in what your viewpoint is.

This post is a continuation from yesterday....

But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” (High-fives, chest-thumping)

Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

Then James and John get BUSTED!

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:22-28 (NLT)

Oh boy! Imagine what the 10 said to James and John; "So, you want to be great ,huh? Clean my sandals!" "Yeah, you heard what Jesus said. Fetch me some water."

Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked.

She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
Matthew 20:20-23 (NLT)