Five Hundred Twentyfive Six Hundred Minutes....

Out of all the songs in the musical Rent, there is one in particular that always gets me thinking- Seasons of Love. Below are the lyrics to the song, followed by a few musings from me.

Five hundrend twenty five thousand
six hundred minutes
Five hundrend twenty five thousand
moments so dear
Five hundrend twenty five thousand
six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year

In daylight, in sunsets, in midnights,
in cups of coffee, In inches, in miles
in laughter in strife,

In Five hundrend twenty five thousand
six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life

(chorus)
How about Love
how about love
how about love
measure in love
seasons of love
seasons of love

Five hundrend twenty five thousand
six hundred minutes
Five hundrend twenty five thousand
journeys to plan
Five hundrend twenty five thousand
six hundred minutes
how do you measure the life of a woman
or a man

In truth that she learned
or in times that he cried
In the bridges he burned
or the way that she died

Its time now to sing out
though the story never ends
lets celebrate remember a year
in the life of friends

(chorus)

How do YOU measure a year? Do you measure a year in daylights, sunsets and midnights as stated in the song, or do you have some other form of measurement. If I had to be honest, I'd say I probably measure a year in the things I did with Justice, from the big thrill moments in Orlando, to the slower moments picking green beans and studying flash cards with simple words.

When I look at how I would measure a year, I don't think it's necessarily bad; however, it may not be as noble as I would like. Perhaps I should measure a year by how often I followed God's laws or how many good deed's I've done. Perhaps if I measured my year that way, I may not be so happy with the results. Could those moments possibly stack up against the things we've done this year? I don't know, but it 's certainly something to think about.

Below is a video of Idol Gives Back- The 2008 Idols perform their rendition of Seasons Of Love.

Seasons

When I was a child growing up in Philadelphia, holidays like Christmas and Easter were pretty predictable. Everybody went to church in the morning and gathered at my grandparents house in the afternoon for a special meal and dessert. The kids played in the family room or basement while the adults gathered in the kitchen and formal living room for idle conversation and appetizers. Nobody was divorced and there were no rifts in the family, so each year was pretty much the same. I liked that.

As I grew into adulthood, I moved to south Florida and things pretty much stayed the same, except now I went to my Aunt and Uncles house for each holiday. Most of us still went to church and we all gathered together to break bread and hang out. Occasionally the guest list would change to include others who had no family in town or other plans. Again, it was nice and predictable.

Unfortunately my Aunt and Uncle came to a point where their marriage had ended and holiday's began to be more unpredictable. One year we dined in a small efficiency where my Uncle was living, we spent some holidays at my cousins homes, sometimes we cooked and other times we ordered pre-made meals; in addition to all that, the times we choose to eat have varied from year to year. The holiday's have no longer become anything I can count on.

As a single mother I am struggling to maintain some sense of normalcy and predictability for my son in regards to the holidays. I realize that life is like a never ending series of seasons and we have to be able to bend with the changing wind so that we don't break; but, it can be quite challenging at times. I've come to realize that I only have control over certain things and I have to use that to my advantage.

I can control the special traditions my little nuclear family has, like dying Easter eggs and checking the Advent calender each day for chocolates in anticipation of Christ's birth. I can control the importance placed on God and prayer by putting our church and worship time ahead of any gatherings or festivities. I can even control who we choose to eat with, thereby creating a new tradition where we share our holiday with other friends and family who we wouldn't normally get to see. It's a strange season I'm experiencing right now and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I don't know what to call it and I'm not quite sure where it's headed; but, I'm hoping for a nice spring when the ground begins to thaw.

Micheal and Michelle's Wedding

Michael Millington and Michelle Gerber were wed on Saturday March 15th, 2008. Below is a video I put together with the pictures I took.

West Palm Beach Paramedic Killed At Wendy's

Yesterday I received a call just after lunch from a friend of mine in Philly checking to see if I was ok. Apparently there had been a shooting at a Wendy's in West Palm Beach and it had made the news there. Now I was no where near the place where the shooting took place; but, I do live in the city and it has definitely affected my community.

A gunman opened fire in a Wendy's for what seems to be no apparent reason, then committed suicide, leaving no note or hint as to why he committed such an unthinkable act of violence.

Rafael Vazquez (pictured to the left) a father of five and paramedic had reportedly just returned to the store to get a toy for his son when he fatally was shot from behind. Three other victims were shot as well, but not killed.

A local radio station covered this story pretty heavily this morning and it really brought tears to my eyes. Friends of the victims called in as well as eyewitnesses and what they conveyed was almost unbelievable. When the gunman opened fire people began pouring out of the Wendy's. People in the drive through abandoned running cars which are still sitting there today- a full day later. From a gas station across the street onlookers watched in horror as they saw the whole thing unfold.

Even as i write, right now, I am listening to Rafael- Ray's daughter Tiffany speaking to Wild 95.5 through tears and grief. Her dad was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back and ask for nothing in return. He was the kind of guy who was the backbone of his family and loved by everyone who he came in contact with. Even as he was going back into the Wendy's, he was only trying to return a toy from a kids meal that his son did not want, so that some other child could enjoy it.

For those of us who live in West Palm Beach, this hit's a little too close to home. We're used to hearing these kinds of stories from other places like Texas or Illinois - not here. So, how should we respond? As a community what should we do to bring about change and protect ourselves at the same time?

What would you do if this happened in your community?

Affirmative Action- Another Form Of Racisim?

I got an e-mail from my Godmother a few days ago telling me all about this great teaching position she had gotten. She loves the job and they love her, but; the only problem is she's white.

What's that you say? She's being denied a job simply because of the color of her skin? I thought that problem had been taken care of back in the 50's and 60's with the civil rights movement. Surely this cannot be true.

Well, my friends I regret to say it is true. We now live in a country where a person can already be on a job as a temporary employee, doing a great job, and well liked by their associates, but unable to obtain a permanent position because they are not the "right" color.

Now, being a woman in the workforce I realize that affirmative action could actually work in my favor at some point in time, but at what cost? Are there no better alternatives out there? Let me know what you think.

Ushpizin- A Blessing Or A Curse?

Occasionally I will rent a foreign film that catches my eye. I never know what to expect when I do this. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised and other times I am utterly disappointed. Ushpizin happened to be one of those films that was not only pleasing to watch, but also got the wheels in my brain turning. I like those kind of movies. I like to think.

The story revolves around a married couple Moshe and Mali, a childless, Orthodox, couple. On the eve of Succoth, the festival of booths they find themselves penniless and hiding from the landlord who is looking for the rent- a circumstance many of us have found ourselves in one time or another.

After fervent prayers from both husband and wife a mysterious gift is shoved under their door. Money, and lot's of it! It seemed as though their prayers had been answered when an even greater blessing appeared on their doorstep or so it seemed. Ushpizin's, also known as holy guests are considered to be lucky; however, these two ushpizin's happed to be escaped convicts from Moshe's secular past.

At first they are seen as a blessing, but; when their unruly behavior gets out of control the Bellanga's tell a lie to get them to leave. Almost immediately thereafter, they realize that the men were a test, not a blessing and they had failed miserably. Being good Jew's they were quick to make amends and re invited their guests to the succah. From that moment on things took a real turn. It was obvious that their change of heart made all the difference in the world and the ushpizin's could see it too.

I don't want to spoil the end of the movie for anyone who might want to see it, so I'll leave things here.

Before I add my own commentary on the film and how it affected me I'd like to add an interesting note. Shuli Rand, the actor who played Moshe, was a retired stage and screen actor. Much like his character he also had become an Orthodox Jew and put his old self behind him. He was very careful to work under the strict direction of a rabbi who stated no actor could be hired to play his wife, therefore; his own wife played the part of Mali and turned out a superb performance. Their real chemistry and love for one another truly shone on screen.

My Thoughts

This movie really stands apart from most of today's blockbusters because of it's solid story line. Like most of the true classics, Ushpizin relies mainly on it's well developed story and leaves the special effects to those who cannot write. If focuses on charity, faith and true repentance, all things which are far too often left out of todays movies.

Perhaps the thing that struck me the most was that even though this was an Orthodox Jewish film, the message was relevant to Christians as well. This week at Vintage (my super cool church) Albert spoke about Luke 14

1One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.

5Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son^[a] or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" 6And they had nothing to say.

7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

The main point of the message was that Jesus called us to reach out to the unsaved, poor, crippled people of this world. We are called to invite them into our homes, to wait on them and break bread with them, looking for nothing in return. In Ushpizin that's just what Moshe and Mali did until things got a little too uncomfortable and they threw the towel in. How often do we do that in our own lives? We start to help somebody and then flake out on them when we realized it's going to be more difficult than we originally thought. We want to jump ship when we realize that we may actually have to *gasp* put our faith in action! (These are mostly Albert's comments, but I agree)

Luckily for Moshe and Mali they realized the error of their ways and immediately repented and I think that is the key. Immediately. The longer it takes for us to realize the error of our ways or choose to do something about it the less likely we are to fix it. "It" becomes water under the bridge and nothing but a forgotten promise of hope to those desperately in need.

Which category do you fit into? Are you the person who never goes outside your Christian circle? Do you invite the unsaved into your life and then fail to follow through? Do you immediately make amends for your wrongs or do you wait until they are water under the bridge and forget about them? What kind of person are you?