In Absentia

the_dude has not been around much lately. As expected, oneway has continued to turn out the krunkest commentary around, for which I am quite grateful. It turns out that it is not so easy to attend to my studies when I'm trying to get myself a J-O-B at the same time. I rocked a 1-hour of sleep night earlier this week and the next night I tried to do a repeat performance, but I wussed out and grabbed like 5 hours. But, all is well now – at least for the near term.

The power behind my near superhuman marathon computering sessions? It's a high energy mix of caffeine, lime flavored Tostitos, and a generous portion of the Holy Spirit. Sadly, though, it seems that a little extra work and some unforeseen time commitments can get me down pretty quickly. It's a good thing that nobody I know is awake and around me at 4am because if I'm awake at that time, it usually means I'm in a really great mood to tell them how stupid it is to go to grad school and that my professors are sadists and that this machine problem is wholly unrealistic and so on.

I do not merely want to survive such times though. I want to thrive in them. How great would it be if I really could consider it pure joy when I have to do a bunch of LAME stuff to satisfy my graduation requirements? Am I capable of really understanding, in the moment, that these trials produce perseverance, and that perseverance can make me mature and complete, as James says? I was recently reminded by a pretty cool guy of the tremendous benefits to our character that we can experience from stressful situations. I am encouraged to lay this at the Throne and begin anew.

Things I Need:
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Also orange juice.

Reading:

Provocative -
How We Got Here, David Frum

Food - Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

Work - Engineering a Compiler, Satan