the singularity of being and nothingness
Posts tagged General
Makeover, Updates, and General Website Goodness
Jul 8th
Well, as those who have visited this site are aware, existdissolve.com has undergone major plastic surgery. While I did enjoy the old style, I was becoming somewhat tiresome to me aesthetically, so I decided it was time for a change.
In this new design, I have striven for simplicity. The code itself is tremendously more lightweight, and there should be no significant load times unlike the previous version that took FOREVER to load the sidebar with all the content that was included there. Also, the fonts are a lot larger and easier to read, so hopefully this will cut down on the eye damage that the 11 px font size was causing many on the previous version.
In moving to this design, I have also decided to display several posts on the home page instead of the solitary article that graced the former site. I hope that this will allow me to be able to update more often with shorter posts, not fearing that a major article will be buried in the archives behind something not as significant. Moreover, I have added post snippets of even more recent articles at the bottom with links to the particular articles. Finally, the astute More >
Ecclesia as Reconciliation
Jun 25th
At church yesterday, my worship leader spoke about the nature of being a disciple, focusing especially on the fact that to be a disciple of Christ is to be vitally connected to the people of God–the community of believers. On the whole it was an excellent discussion and he brought up some very apropos points about how the identity of a follower of Christ is indellibly marked by the community of believers to which the believer is joined through Christ. This message stirred my thinking quite a bit, so I would like to note some very brief observations about the nature of ecclesia and what it means to be a part of the church.
First of all, to be a part of the community of believers is synonymous with participating in the salvation of God. Stated another way, God's salvation is uniquely manifested in the church. While this might seem strange to the modern, individuated mind that has been conditioned to understand salvation in atomistic, forensic terms, it is really not a shocking thing when understood in the grander stroke of salvation history. As salvation is realized not through the juridical pardon of punishment for sins, but rather in the reconciliation More >
Site Updates and a Goof
Jun 17th
Many may not know this, but I started this blog as a learning experience. I currently work as a Coldfusion developer at a web design company in Lexington, Kentucky, and this blog was my first real adventure in application programming.
Over the last year, I have learned alot, and shudder most times when I look “under the hood” of this beast.
Anyway, here’s some updates: I have added a “remember me” button that will allow users to login automatically when visiting the site. No more annoying logging in just to leave a comment (believe me, no one is more annoyed at that than me…). I have also gotten rid of the comment pop-up window and have decided to place the comments immediately below the relevant, highlighted post.
Moreover, I have placed more than one post on the “home” page. Under the original format, I was hesitant to post short topics simply because I did not want the longer, more developed ones to get lost in the archives. This new way should allow the visitor to quickly browse several of the most recent posts in one fell swoop, and will make me feel better about posting short, random posts about whatever.
Now for the goof: More >
A Concert of Cosmological SIgnificance
Jun 17th
Yes, the planets are once again aligned and I am gracing the unwashed masses with another concert The theme of this one is "The Geometry of Eternity," a concept based upon a song of the same name. In this song, I connect C.S. Lewis' imagery of eternity (The Great Divorce) with some further reflections of my own. I suggest in this song that the "geometry" of eternity has little to do with the location of saint and sinner in terms of proximity to heaven or hell as materialistically conceived realities, but is rather realized in the relatedness of the individual to God and the attendant consequences of the same. Here is a snippet:
"Imagine a time, with no time / And separation without a space in between / To stand right next to life, and yet still die / To be sustained, but never fulfilled"
The rest of the songs amount to a sort of theological escapade wherein I walk through some of the more difficult and/or interesting theological issues of Christian belief, including but not limited to the nature of faith, eschatological frustration, atonement theology, human sinfulness, epistemological shifts in Christian thinking, etc.
See you there. Or else.
Share this:
Sweet, Sweet Irony
Jun 17th
Yesterday, I ruminated about a new-found respect and value to which I have comitted myself in regards to creation. I suggested that as the creation is itself the object of the redemption, restoration and recreation to be realized in the divine rule of God in the eschaton, so we should highly value the creation, rather than abusing and destroying it simply to sate our consumeristic desires and contrived "needs." As part of this reflection, I noted that I have committed myself to avoid deliberately harming spiders, a creature of which I am particularly afraid (and mildly disgusted…I mean, do they really need that many legs?).
However, my suspicions about the ultimately capricious orientation of the universe were confirmed this morning. I woke up from troubled slumber, a terrible migraine dulling my senses. As I showered, I noticed that my right arm was a little sore. As I more closely inspected the troublesome area, I recognized the tell-tale signs of my nemesis.
Yes, a spider bite.
Delicious irony.
Share this: Come Let Us Reason Together – A Call for Sacramental Reevaluation
Jun 17th
On Thursday of last week, I officially finished my Master's Degree in Theology. Given that I am now working as a web designer/developer, the immediate relevance of my degree is not readily apparent. Nonetheless, theology is–and will continue to be–my first love. Hence, I will continue posting reflections that I have in the course of my theological development.
My final semester was, in many ways, one of the most important. While I will be posting about many of the things I have learned, the reflection which I will today share derives from my semester's work in the subject of Sacramentology. I simply wish to discuss the role of the sacrments in the early church, examining them in light of the current practice which I encounter in my worship. But first, a bit of background.
I grew up in the Wesleyan Church, a small denomination established in the late 1960's from a merger between the Wesleyan-Methodists and Pilgrim Holiness churches. Although Wesley himself speaks of the sacraments as "converting ordinances," the practice within the Wesleyan Church is thoroughly Zwinglian. That is, the sacraments are viewed symbolically, as psychologized memorials of that which Christ has done for the believer. True enough, the *official* More >
Book Review: Brian Greene's "Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality"
Jun 17th
A quasi-sequel to his "Elegant Universe," Fabric is an intriguing foray into the wild and wonderful world of quantum mechanics and speculative physics. Prima facie, the subject matter would appear to be significantly beyond the interests and capacities of the general, non-specialized public. However, Greene does an exceptional job of distilling the relevant issues of the content into managable, comprehensible and–most importantly–interesting reading.
As in Elegant Universe, Greene briefly traces the historical developments which have laid the foundations for the revolutions of quantum physics in the twentieth century. To do this, he examines "classical" conceptions of space and time, showing how very fundamental beliefs about the nature of these realities are being challenged and overturned by rapid discoveries in the field of quantum physics. With this established, Greene moves onto to discuss cosmic origins. Of particular interest is Greene's in-depth critique of deficiencies in the standard big-bang model. After discussing these issues at length, Greene proceeds to apply considerations of quantum physics to propose a new model of origins, the inflationary model.
After dispensing with considerations of origins, Greene brings the previous discussions to bear on one of his particular interests, String Theory. To Greene, String Theory encapsulates one of modern More >
The Most Epic Concert Poster Ever!!!
Jun 17th
This is quite simply the most epic concert poster I have ever seen…thanks Jared!
BTW, I really am playing on March 9th (8:00 pm) at Solomon’s Porch in Wilmore, KY. If you consider me a friend, you will be in attendance. I’m just saying…
Share this: Anberlin – "Cities"
May 15th
Anberlin absolutely shines on their newest album, Cities.
True enough, many of their critics suggest that Cities is yet another collection of the standard Anberlin fare, and in a sense the critics are correct. Melodically, Anberlin does not diverge significantly from previous works, and the band delivers the same aggressive musicianship for which they are adored.
What makes Cities a meaningfully different album, then, is the level of introspection in which the band engages throughout the project. Cities engenders the human condition, confronting issues of love, failure, disappointment, injustice–just to name only a few. Yet the depth of these existential investigations is not simply thrust upon the listener without warning, but is rather buttressed gracefully by the driving, yet infectious melodies and rhythms which seem to move and fuse seamlessly from track to track, creating a truly epic and album-ic listening experience. This collusion of lyrical depth and melodic intensity underscores the importance of each line, creating an almost desperate yet intoxicating pleading for the full attention and involvement of the listener in the profundity of what is occuring in this primal moment.
In this sense, then, Cities is not meant for easy listening or casual interaction; rather, it’s very form and function More >
*New* Music from Jonezetta – "Popularity"
Apr 20th
I recently came across one of Tooth and Nail Records' newest darling's, Jonezetta.
Part pseudo-Euro rock, part emo, part screamo, Jonezetta fuses many interesting and innovative sounds to put together what is, IMO, one of most enjoyable albums in a long time.
Released in 2006, I am admittedly tardy in getting around to this band. However, their sound is emminently fresh, so the listener will forgive my only recently assuaged ignorance.
Anyway, I have linked to two of their songs from Popularity, "Communicate" and "The City We Live In." I think they well capture the essence of Jonezetta's unique sound. To listen to them, scroll around in the mp3 player on the right-hand side of this page.
Share this:
